Question regarding a cookie recipe

[Chris_C]

I got a wonderful peanut butter cookie recipe on the Paula Deen cooking show. The recipe calls for:
1c peanut butter
1c sugar
1 egg
1t baking soda

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

thanks

[panini]

Chris,
The recipe is wonderful?
but they turned out dry and crumbly?
I think too many times we like to play chef and start tweeking formulas.
I always found it best to look for a formula that fits your needs.
Just my 2 cents.
Chris,
I'm not going to delete the above, but I just flipped back to your post and it sounds like you like the flavor but not the texture.
I would look for a formula that has a little shortening in it.
Anything else like using white and brown sugar, adding other ingredients will alter the flavor.
HTH
pan

[Chris_C]

Thanks for your input. I think I'll try adding a little butter to the existing recipe since it took me forever to find a peanutty flavor that I like and that reminds me of my mom's.

[shel]

At what time/temp are you baking the cookies. I have a similar recipe (coincidentally from PD) that calls for 350-degrees @ 12-minutes.

Shel

[Chris_C]

My recipe calls for 10 minutes at 350. What do you think of adding 1/2 stick of butter?

[shel]

Originally Posted by Chris_C

My recipe calls for 10 minutes at 350. What do you think of adding 1/2 stick of butter?

I don't know - the recipe I have doesn't call for butter, and I'm not much of a baker so I really can't be of much help.

Shel

[panini]

Butter might not help with dry and crumbly. Might want to try a little shortening.
or the running advice here, is buttermilk will cure any problem with a recipe but I wouldn't try that with peanutbutter.

[jessiquina]

this doesnt sound like a Paula recipe! are you sure there is no butter and its not deep fried and coated in nacho cheese?

[shel]

Originally Posted by jessiquina

this doesnt sound like a Paula recipe! are you sure there is no butter and its not deep fried and coated in nacho cheese?

<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

[bubbamom]

I've used a similar recipe for years for the best flavored peanut butter cookies I've ever had EXCEPT the recipe I was given was only three ingredients, i.e., 1 c peanut butter, 1 egg and 1 c sugar (baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes). I'm not sure you'd want to add butter to the recipe. The peanut butter I use is Jiff's creamy. Before you start adding more oil/butter... suggest you try making the cookies a bitt flatter. I found my cookies crumbled easier if they were too thick.

[shel]

Originally Posted by bubbamom

I've used a similar recipe for years for the best flavored peanut butter cookies I've ever had EXCEPT the recipe I was given was only three ingredients, i.e., 1 c peanut butter, 1 egg and 1 c sugar (baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes). I'm not sure you'd want to add butter to the recipe. The peanut butter I use is Jiff's creamy. Before you start adding more oil/butter... suggest you try making the cookies a bitt flatter. I found my cookies crumbled easier if they were too thick.

The ingredients for the recipe I want to try are:

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I'll grind the peanut butter fresh - the machine at the store gives a grind between smooth and chunky that I like. No additives in the resulting peanut butter, no salt either, plus it's less expensive than commercial jarred peanut butter - and organic as well. You can probably do the same thing at home in a food processor.

Shel

[Free Rider]

Jif peanut butter is not really peanut butter. It's a peanut-flavored hydrogenated oil.

Got a food processor? Make your own fresh peanut/hazelnut/almond/etc butter in just seconds.

[shel]

Originally Posted by Free Rider

Jif peanut butter is not really peanut butter. It's a peanut-flavored hydrogenated oil.
Got a food processor? Make your own fresh peanut/hazelnut/almond/etc butter in just seconds.

That brings up an interesting question: what does using a product like Jif (or any prepared food item that's got salt, oils, chemicals, etc. in it do to a recipe compared to, as in this case, making peanut butter with just peanuts?

Are the more contemporary recipes designed to accomodate prepared foods? How much might results change when using fresh made natural ingredients?

Shel

[Free Rider]

Originally Posted by shel

That brings up an interesting question: what does using a product like Jif (or any prepared food item that's got salt, oils, chemicals, etc. in it do to a recipe compared to, as in this case, making peanut butter with just peanuts?

Are the more contemporary recipes designed to accomodate prepared foods? How much might results change when using fresh made natural ingredients?

Shel

That might actually answer the original poster's question? What kind of peanut butter did he/she use?

I know the Betty Crocker cookbooks insist on shortening and I refuse to use shortening, so I don't use the recipes.

Time to haul out the McGee book again.

[Mezzaluna]

I've made her "magical peanut butter cookies" a few times. I am not supposed to eat much of any kind of sugar, so it satisfied my sweet tooth. Yes, it's crumbly. Unlike real sugar, Splenda doesn't act like a liquid in this recipe- but it does give some structure to the cookie in the absence of flour.

Here's the recipe I used:


Magical Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show:
Paula's Home Cooking
Episode:
Healthy Cooking




1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet.
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from pan.