Question regarding a cookie recipe

[panini]

Our commercial peanut butter in 35# pails is not something you would slather on bread. This is hard to explain to the lunch crowd.
Speaking of peanut butter.
I have been ill for over a month now with flu symptoms, high blood pressure, fatigue, blood and protien in my urinalasis. I have been for stress tests, ivp, etc. Put on blood pressure medication etc.
Well while watching the tube last night I just happened into the pantry to see what kind of peanutbutter I've been snacking on for the last month or so.
Well, it's Peter Pan 211161080012550 one of the ones pulled for salmonella.
Now I'm wondering? You all are smart. Should I go for more tests or should I have the peanutbutter tested? I have the crappiest ins possible.

[newbiechef]

Originally Posted by shel

<LOL> Acxtually, the recipe I grabbed was for a no sugar cookie - Imagine that, a PD recipe with no sugar, cream cheese, or mayonnaise. I've not made it yet so I don't know if it's much good, but I do prefer my peanut butter cookies on the dry and less sweet side, so it might be just fine fo my taste.

Shel

you know... fried cookies may not be all that bad... has anyone actually tried it? if so, howd they turn out? sounds a bit interesting, may be worth trying... my roommates and i fry stuff all the time. things from homemade fries to hush puppies to pickles... then we start randomly frying foods... just to see what happens, maybe fried cookies is the next big idea, who knows...

[KCZ]

Pan,

Tell your doctor that you may have been exposed to salmonella, so you can receive appropriate care. S/he will have to report this to the health dept, which will most likely want to test the PB, without charge to you.

[panini]

KCZ,
Doctor says, not likely, but is having the family in first thing tomorrow to have tests. She said I do some symptoms of riters (havn't looked that up yet). My wife and I have low immune systems since we are both cancer survivors. Thank godness I'm borderline OCD with sanitation
pan

[KCZ]

Pan,

I'm glad to hear you and your family are being checked out. Reiter's syndrome is a complication of salmonella infection, with arthritis and eye irritation.

BTW, I just threw out a (nearly empty) jar of 2111 Peter Pan.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Chris_C

The cookie is wonderful but mine turn out a little dry and crumbly. How can I slightly moisten the cookie?

Just a hunch, but this happens to the PB cookie I make at work when I don't mix it enough (a.k.a - follow the directions as written). So, maybe mixing it longer will help?

[Free Rider]

Oh, Panini! Good luck with that and feel better soon.

[jessiquina]

thats scary about the peter pan pnut butter.. i hope you guys are ok!

[bubbamom]

ok, I stand chastised if my Jif isn't pure ground peanuts. (Gosh, hope the pure ground peanut spread isn't used on store bought bread or crackers .) Maybe the problem with the crumbling cookies is the difference between the pure ground peanuts vs the store brand varieties. As I am not a professional cook, I've not experienced the pails of peanut goo (?) you might find in a commercial kitchen.

Samonella can be dangerous, especially to children and immune-compromised folks. Symptons are diarrhea, fever, cramps, headache, nausea, loss of appetite and vomiting according to the CDC. Contaminated foods are commonly raw pountry, eggs, beef and unwashed fruit and vegies. Cross contamination can also be an issue - - for example a counter exposed to raw meat.

Better to be checked out then to suffer the results of contaminated food. Hope all is well.

[shel]

Originally Posted by bubbamom

ok, I stand chastised if my Jif isn't pure ground peanuts.

I don't think anyone was chastising you. Here's a list of Jif ingredientstaken from the Jif web site. The standard Jif Creamy is:

MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES AND SALT.

If you can, compare the taste of Jif and similar products with natural peanut butter. There are a few brands that should be easy to come by, or drop into any of a number of health food or natural grocery stores (and even some supermarkets) and grind your own. You may be surprised at the difference in taste, and may never go back to Jif-like butters again.

Shel

[bubbamom]

Problem with emails or posts is that inflection gets lost. Yes, I have ground my own peanuts (both at the store and at home) and indeed, the taste of pure ground nuts differs greatly from store brand peanut butter. Because I don't use peanut butter often, I found that the oil in the fresh ground separated before I got around to using it up and it really wasn't worth the effort. For my purposes, a store brand works just fine.

The question starting this thread was about crumbling peanut butter cookies from a PD recipe and my suggestion, based on my use of a similar recipe, was that perhaps the difference had to do with the type of peanut butter used and my doubt that adding shortening (butter, magerine, whatever) would eliminate the crumbling. I'm sure Alton Brown could give us the scientific answer. (This last was my attempt at humor - - not as an endorsement/insult of Alton Brown.)

Anyway, hope that the crumbling problem and salmonella concerns get worked out satisfactorily.

[Mezzaluna]

Bubbamom, I'm no baker, but would letting the dough "rest" for a time help?

I have made my own nut butters (peanut and almond); they are drier. Adding a small amount of oil (I'm guessing I added 1 tablespoon per cup of nut butter) helped some.

[bubbamom]

Mezzaluna, I'm not a professional baker either so I guess maybe resting might help. I do know that in the recipe I used (pb, egg & sugar) they worked out better thin (< 1/4 inch)rather than a fatter cookie. I did make them thicker once when adding the usual chocolate kiss on top and those crumbled more. But you know what? A glass of cold milk and the broken pieces of cookie tasted pretty good to me!

I burned out a blender making almond butter once - - another fine mess I got myself into!

[Joyfull]

You can find this PB cookie recipe all over the net. It seems that PDean has added one extra ingredient to her recipe though. The baking soda..
You won't find baking soda in any of the other recipes. Its just the 3 ingredients.. PB. sugar, and an egg..
I'm no expert but there is no flour in the recipe so why would she add the soda? maybe the soda is whats making your cookies so crumbly.. I would try again without it and see how that goes..

As for the debate over what PB to use (natuaral or brand name) the natural is wonderful for toast etc. but for me anyway, stinks when it comes to baking..

[Free Rider]

If the original poster was using Peter Pan, then perhaps that was his problem. I bet Alton would have something scientific to say about the presence of salmonella, right bubbamom?.