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Saturday, June 17, 2006

Voyage dans le temps - Chewy peanut butter cookies

[Travel through time - Chewy peanut butter cookies]

American and British cuisines are becoming a big phenomenon, here in France. Everyone wants his piece of cheesecake, his fairycake or his pancakes.
Indeed I reckon it is a good thing that British food finally meets the glory it deserves.

I discovered AmerEnglish food quite early in life. At that time, I would only swear by carrot cakes, London cheesecakes and muffins.
These were so easy to make for a 10-year-old but were also very rewarding: tasty, moist and delicious.

When I went through this 'I love American and British food' phase, one of my favourite ingredients was peanut butter.
I guess I won't be wrong by saying that, in France, we have some wonderful butter. Thus, I was a bit unsure of the combinaison of cachuète and beurre. Was it butter with peanut chunks?
The answer finally came when my mother agreed to buy me a jar of peanut butter. Tout ça pour ça? C'est juste une crème marron [All that mess, just for a brownish paste?].

But when I opened the jar, an irresistible smell came out of it: peanuty yet very sweet.
I could here the crushed peanut shouting 'Eat me, please'. I grabbed the nearest spoon and delighted myself with that sticky paste.

Today, I still love peanut butter, though I buy it less often because of its processed nature.
I have to admit peanut butter isn't that good. But to be honest, I think the only reason I find it so yummy is nostalgia. I might be a bit of a bore with that, but you know how much I believe of the power of the food you've eaten as a child.
Some people have to invent complex machines to travel through time. My solution is far easier. I just open a jar of peanut butter and its smell sends me ten years back.

Chewy peanut butter cookies
I love these cookies: chewy inside and crispy outside.
And the big bonus is the wonderful taste of peanut.
Really, what's not to love? Chewy cookies + delicious peanut-ish taste!

Chewy peanut butter cookies

makes 30 cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 cups light muscovado sugar
1 cup caster sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
100g butter, cold and cut in cubes
350g crunchy peanut butter, cold
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Rub in the butter and peanut butter until you've got a crumbly texture.
Add the eggs, one at a time and mix until smooth (fanny: the dough should be very crumbly).
Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Form small balls of dough and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden (fanny: the interior should almost raw; take care because the hot cookies are very difficult to handle with).

Labels: cookies, favourites, recipe inside

sweet link | posted by *fanny* at 15:27

11 sweets:

Banlieue Blog said something sweet:: Your photos just get better and better!
I also love that milkshake post.
As always....Bravo Fanny!; 17 June, 2006 16:07
Anonymous said something sweet:: PEANUT BETTER COKKIES...
!!!MMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM !!!
Bon péché mignon...!!!(enfin, je sui pa sur, ac touts les otres bonnes recettes ke tu mijote...!)
Bizzouxx; 17 June, 2006 19:34
Fabienne said something sweet:: Sublime .....; 17 June, 2006 20:29
Anonymous said something sweet:: Très jolie photo qui met tant tes cookies en valeur! Miam!; 18 June, 2006 01:22
Anonymous said something sweet:: Great pics!!

I love anything with peanut butter, I wish I wasn't on a diet otherwise I would be making these right now!!; 18 June, 2006 13:01
Anonymous said something sweet:: Melissa - thank you. You're always so nice!

Coucou loulou, attends que j'arrive et la cuisine sera a nous!

Fabienne - merci d'etre passée.

Bea - merci pour ton gentil mot. En effet ils sont MIAM.

Pamela - it's such a pain to be on a diet! Good luck.; 18 June, 2006 17:19
Alhya said something sweet:: Miam!! mais hélas, pas de peanut butter sous la main, il faut que j'en trouve vite!!; 19 June, 2006 09:24
Unknown said something sweet:: Ha le beurre de cacahuète et moi, c'est une grande histoire d'amour! Et tout comme toi une histoire de nostalgie, moi quand j'ouvre un pot de beurre de cacahuète, ça me transporte direct au Canada...; 19 June, 2006 20:21
Anonymous said something sweet:: Hi geneve - i hope he'll like them. All my friends and especially the peanut butter lover adore them.

Hi Alhya - ces cookies sont aussi délicieux sans peanut butter mais avec 200g de beurre et des chocolate chips.

Hi milie - j'ai une amie qui a grandit au canada, alors je te comprends tout a fait.

xoxo
Fanny; 20 June, 2006 10:53
Su-Yin -Décorateur said something sweet:: oh my! Peanut butter is my favourite! Your blog is filled with great photographs and interesting articles! Love everything about it; great work Fanny!
btw, I've linked you to my blog as one of my favourites :); 21 June, 2006 09:06
Anonymous said something sweet:: Le peanut butter ! En fait, avant de l'utiliser dans ce genre de cookies, amatrice oblige ;o), je n'aimais pas cette pâte étrange et sans intérêt.
Je ne comprenais vraiment pas le plaisir que les petits américains pouvaient trouver à croquer dans un sandwich au "peanut butter and jam" ! Berk !
finalement, si je n'avais pas aimé les cookies, j'en serais toujours au même point.
Je ne le tartine toujours pas mais la douceur, le salé et le petit goût de cacachuètes qu'il apporte aux préparations pâtissières ou salées me séduit totalement.
Je fonds donc pour ces cookies qui semblent si moelleux !!
Merci pour la recette.
Je rejoins tes idées quant à la relation "complexe" et intense que onous entretenons avec la nourriture et ce, depuis notre naissance. C'est encore plus ahurissant qu'on ne le pense.
D'ailleurs, c'est bien à cause de ces liens indéfectibles et proustiens, évidemment, que les petits américains en grandissant auront toujours, la plupart du temps, un pot de beurre de cacahuètes dans leur placard avant de machinalement transmettre cette madeleine à leurs enfants etc...; 30 January, 2007 11:08