Ingredient Spotlight-Peanut Butter Brittle Cookies

Recently I was tearing out recipes and articles from some old magazines so that I could send the magazines for recycling.  Am I the only one who still tears recipes from magazines, I wonder.

One of the recipes that caught my eye was from a 2004 issue of Family Circle magazine.  (See, I said they were OLD magazines.)  The recipe was for a peanut butter cookie that had crushed peanut brittle added.  Thinking that was a good idea and being that I just happened to have some peanut brittle on hand that I had picked up at Dollar Tree, I made the cookies.  They were not quite as dense as most peanut butter cookies and had a subtle peanut brittle flavor with a little extra crunch, a very nice change.

I must warn that this recipes make a lot of cookies, somewhere around 7 dozen of the size that I made.  The original recipe called for using 1/4 c. dough per cookie which would have made Huge cookies.  I used a level tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie and still had 3-inch cookies which I find plenty big enough.

I crushed the peanut brittle in my mini food processor in three batches, then I put it in a zip-top bag and used my metal meat mallet to crush any remaining bigger pieces the food processor did not get.

Peanut Butter Brittle Cookies
adapted from Family Circle magazine

4 –5 oz. peanut brittle
3 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c. sugar, divided
2 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Break peanut brittle into fairly small pieces and  pulse in food processor until finely crushed.  If you do not have a food processor, place pieces in a plastic zip top bag and pound with a metal meat mallet or hammer.  (There should be about 3/4 cup crushed brittle.)  Combine crushed brittle, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and mix well.  Set aside.  Place butter and peanut butter in a large mixer bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add brown sugar and 1/2 c. sugar.  Beat until light in color, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl.  With a mixer on low speed, add half of flour mixture and beat well.  Add remaining flour mixture and beat until well mixed.  The dough will be  stiff.  Place remaining 1/2 c. sugar in a shallow bowl.  Using a scoop that holds 1 tablespoon or a measuring tablespoon scoop out level tablespoons of dough and form into balls.  Roll balls in the sugar.  Place on ungreased baking sheet and flatten with the bottom of a glass.  (I do not have a glass so I use a 1-cup metal measuring cup and wipe it with a paper towel after flattening each cookie).  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges have just begun to brown and cookies are set.  Remove from oven and let stand on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove cookies to a rack to cool.  Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.  (Believe me, these would never last that long in this house.)  Makes about 84 cookies.

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