Peanut Butter Melts

Here's the next treat from Hannah Swensen's Cookie Jar (in Blueberry Muffin Murder.) Apparently the mayor of her town (I forget his name) just loves these cookies. In fact he melts for them. Ha. Ha.

I wish you could be here to taste one so I could grin and ask you to guess the secret ingredient. It's molasses, which I've never heard of putting in a peanut butter cookie. But then I thought about it, and using white sugar and molasses is basically the same as using brown sugar, which I have heard of in peanut butter cookies, so it's not that crazy.

These cookies came out a little flatter than I expected, but I was also using suspect baking powder (my cake a few days earlier completely failed to rise); I have since replaced it. But thinness aside, these were delicious - slightly crispy on the outside, gorgeously soft and chewy on the inside, even after several days in a Tupperware. Total comfort cookies and I found myself snacking on them way more than I should have. So I gave some away. But not all of them, of course. I'm not quite that disciplined.

Peanut Butter Melts

1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 cup molasses (2 T)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

2 beaten eggs (whip with a fork)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Sugar for rolling, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375. Place oven rack in middle position.

2. Microwave the butter to melt it. Add the sugar, vanilla and molasses. Stir until it's blended, then add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

3. Measure out the peanut butter. (Spray the inside of the measuring cup with Pam so it won't stick - I do the same with the molasses.) Add it to the bowl and mix it in. Pour in the beaten eggs and stir. Then add the flour, and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

4. Form the dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silicone. (These spread a lot so keep it to 12 for a standard jelly roll pan.) Roll in sugar if desired (but I tried both ways and I think they're plenty sweet without the extra roll.) Flatten slightly in a criss-cross pattern with fork.

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Makes about 3 1/2 to 4 dozen

*For PBJ cookies, spread jam on one cookie and use another to make a sandwich. Or go for it and use fudge frosting or Nutella in the middle.

Recipe from Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke