Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter Cookies

I have the perfect Fall cookie recipe for you.

It was actually born out of dislike.  Well, maybe dislike is too strong of a word.

Apathy might be more accurate.

It all started when I picked up a jar of Peanut Butter & Co.'s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter.

I love this company's other peanut butter flavors, but when I smeared some of the Cinnamon Raisin variety on a piece of toast, my first thought was ....."meh."  It wasn't bad and I liked the fact that there were whole raisins mixed in, but I didn't love it.

I don't believe in eating something that you don't really like just to eat it, but I also don't like to be wasteful, so I began to brainstorm ways to use the rest of the jar. Luckily I remembered a simple peanut butter cookie recipe that I had made about a year ago and decided to see how this peanut butter would taste when it was baked into cookies.  The answer?  Absolutely delicious.  The result was even better than I had hoped for.

The original recipe called for two cups of peanut butter, but when I started to measure it out, I realized that I only had about 1 1/4 cups of it left, so I reached for my jar of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter to supplement.

If you haven't tried this stuff, you need to seriously get on it.  It tastes like Christmas.

Anyhoo, here's what you'll need to make a large batch of 36 cookies:

• 2 cups of peanut butter (or 1 1/4 cups of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and 3/4 cup of Cookie Butter, or any combination of your favorite nut butters.  Have fun, experiment, and make the recipe your own!)
• 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar (original recipe called for light brown, but I always go for dark brown, so use whichever type that you prefer)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

First, preheat your oven to 350° F.  Then combine your peanut butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl.

If you have an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Sadly, the mixer that I used to use for baking before I moved was my sister's, and I haven't gotten one since my move, so I beat the mixture for a while with a fork and then got down and dirty with my hands.  Which was actually oddly satisfying and therapeutic.

After everything is combined, beat in the eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and salt. 

 

When everything is blended and you have a nice, smooth mixture, resist the urge to grab a spoon and go to town on the raw dough, and instead grab a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper.  Then roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the sheet about two inches apart.

Flatten them a bit by pressing down on the tops with a fork, from two directions, making a criss-cross pattern on the surface.  If you find that the fork is really sticking to the dough when you try to pull it away, sprinkle a little flour over it.  (The criss-cross pattern ended up not being super obvious on the cookies after I baked them, but it was when I made the recipe using just regular peanut butter.  If this happens to you too, don't worry about it.  We're going for taste over aesthetics here, people!)

When you're done making your fork designs, pop your pan into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating your baking sheet after about 5 minutes.  After removing them from the oven, let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Grab a few while they're still warm though, make yourself a cup of tea, and sample the fruit of your labors.

The warm taste of the spices in the butters as well as the nutty flavor will put you in a festive Fall mood instantly.  

 

And if you really want to induce a Fall sugar coma, I recommend pairing the cookies with Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Coffee.  

 

 

Just the thing to keep you cozy and warm as the autumn chill descends and the afternoon shadows grow long.

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