I've had a bag of King Arthur Flour strawberry jammy bits sitting in back of the cupboard for a while; I had forgotten all about them until I recently unearthed the package while looking for something else. When I saw the bag, I remembered that I had already picked out a recipe to put the jammy bits to use -- Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies. When I came across the recipe a while ago, it seemed like such an obvious idea -- make a regular peanut butter cookie and throw in some jammy bits to make a PB&J cookie.
The peanut butter cookie is straightforward. You beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, and smooth peanut butter; and then add flour, baking soda, salt, and jammy bits. (The recipe is written to include shortening, but it provides a butter substitution option, which I used.) My dough came together quickly without any problem.
I used a #40 scoop to portion out the dough and I got 26 cookies -- which happens to be the exact yield specified in the recipe. My cross-hatch designs (made with a fork) weren't very sharp, but still -- the baked cookies looked pretty good. Some of the jammy bits around the edges melted, but otherwise the bits added a lot of visual interest.
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This is a very good peanut butter cookie. I'm not sure if it's a great cookie or not. As far as the cookie itself goes, it's a bit on the dry side -- but that is not atypical for peanut butter cookies. I don't think this cookie would be anything special if it didn't have the jammy bits, because they add a lot. You do get the nostalgic peanut butter-fruit jelly flavor combination, but more importantly, the jammy bits have a wonderfully interesting chewy texture.
My tasters enjoyed this cookie and I think the recipe was a success. But given the expense of jammy bits, I don't think that this cookie is tasty enough to justify their purchase. And there are some other peanut butter cookies that I like better (like the Baked Monster Cookie and the Peanut Butter Cookie with Chocolate Chunks). Still, this cookie is a good (and easy!) way to enjoy a classic flavor combination.
Recipe: "Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies" from King Arthur Flour.
Previous Posts:
The peanut butter cookie is straightforward. You beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, and smooth peanut butter; and then add flour, baking soda, salt, and jammy bits. (The recipe is written to include shortening, but it provides a butter substitution option, which I used.) My dough came together quickly without any problem.
I used a #40 scoop to portion out the dough and I got 26 cookies -- which happens to be the exact yield specified in the recipe. My cross-hatch designs (made with a fork) weren't very sharp, but still -- the baked cookies looked pretty good. Some of the jammy bits around the edges melted, but otherwise the bits added a lot of visual interest.
My tasters enjoyed this cookie and I think the recipe was a success. But given the expense of jammy bits, I don't think that this cookie is tasty enough to justify their purchase. And there are some other peanut butter cookies that I like better (like the Baked Monster Cookie and the Peanut Butter Cookie with Chocolate Chunks). Still, this cookie is a good (and easy!) way to enjoy a classic flavor combination.
Recipe: "Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies" from King Arthur Flour.
Previous Posts:
- "If It's Called 'Granola,' It Must Be Healthy, Right?: Granola Bars with Jammy Bits," July 18, 2012.
- "The Easy Way to Emulate a Childhood Classic: Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars," January 3, 2011.
- "A Childhood Delight Reimagined: Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies," April 27, 2010.
- "Where's the PB&J in My Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread?," February 28, 2010.
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