there will be cookies

July 15, 2010 9 Comments by Maddie

When asked what you love about summer, there’s a vast repository of stock answers to choose from. And it’s not hard to appreciate the joys of extended sunlight, the feeling of warm sand between your toes, or the fact that tomatoes now taste exactly as they were meant to taste. But there are times when I revel, just a little bit, in feeling like a seasonal Grinch.

I’m ghostly pale, and require excessive amounts of sunscreen to make it alive through August. I hate to say it, but temperatures over 70 make me feel sluggish and grouchy, and I sweat rather easily. Worst of all is the office: the Arctic blast of the air conditioning, yes, but also the fact that most of the staff is vacation-bound and the workload light. There, I said it: I’d rather be kept busy at work, multitasking and problem-solving and all that good stuff. When you’re the resident Entry-Level Employee at Company X, your work is by definition less difficult and less time-sensitive, which is all fine and good until things get deathly quiet right around, oh, July or August. Don’t get me wrong! I really do enjoy catching up on New York Times articles and blog posts between the occasional paper-filing jobs. Just not until my eyes cross and I realize I’m barely halfway through the workday.

And, damnit, I enjoy turning my oven on! I like the occasional buttery, chocolatey dessert in the middle of a heatwave, even though cobblers and pies are the seasonal standards. Sure, I made these peanut-butter cookies for a Fourth of July picnic, which was stereotypically summery. We were huddled around a cooler full of beer, eyes turned skyward and watching a fireworks show set to John Philip Sousa music. (Yes, really. And yes, it was a little bit weird.) In true Grinch form, though, I reserve the right to eat the rest of the stash while buried in the corner of my couch, overdosing on True Blood DVDs and getting seriously emotionally involved in this season of The Bachelorette. (Ali, pick Chris. Otherwise, I will never forgive you.)

I also reserve the right to go blueberry-picking this weekend and totally forget about my momentary aversion to heat, fruit desserts and light-hearted fun. Until then, there will be cookies.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES WITH MILK CHOCOLATE CHUNKS
Makes 24 cookies
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 6 oz. milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preparation
1) In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2) In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add each egg one at a time, beating until each is incorporated into batter. Add vanilla and peanut butter, stirring until combined.
3) Add flour to butter mixture in two batches, stirring until completely incorporated but taking care not to overbeat. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
4) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
5) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, or roll into similarly-sized spheres, leaving cookies at least 2 inches apart.
6) Sprinkle the tops of cookies with granulated sugar, then bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through. The edges of the cookies will just be turning golden brown.
7) Remove cookies from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
8) If storing your cookies at room temperature, enjoy them within 3 days. Happily, they freeze beautifully, too!

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  • http://everybodylikessandwiches.com kickpleat

    I’ll take summer but that’s just because it’s so short here on the west coast. When I lived in the midwest it was different – muggy and hot and I couldn’t wait for fall. Now, I’m happy to have a few hot summery days and even happier when it’s sunny and temperate. I love the look of these cookies. Yum.

  • http://IslandEAT.wordpress.com IslandEAT

    Maddie, I definitely enjoyed this post (and have wanted to make that cookie since I bought that cookbook…). Engaging writing with high-quality photos – good for you!

    You reminded me why I really don’t miss those sticky summers in Chicago, Ottawa (the capital of Canada, not the town west of the Hog Butcher to the World), and other such hot and humid places. Of course, rain all winter and limited sunshine more than compensate for the lack of summer moisture, here in the Pacific Northwest/”Southwest” Canada. Well, you pays your money and you takes your chance, as they used to say….

    Thanks,

    Dan

  • http://comosolo.wordpress.com/ Debs

    OMG I am so with you. It´s 12:45 here and I´ve aready lost all my powers of concentration.

  • http://www.alittleginger.com Maddie

    kickpleat — It’s all relative, isn’t it? I’m always happy to drive home in the summer with the windows down, but only after being chilled to the bone in my office. I imagine the feeling is similar if you live somewhere that’s cool and rainy most of the year, just applied on a grander scale.

    Dan — Ooh, if you haven’t tried these cookies yet, you’ve really got to! Don’t you love the cookbook? The taste and texture of these are pretty much perfect. Glad you’ve embraced your new clime, too. :)

    Debs — I feel your pain, especially now that it’s Friday and I’m counting down the hours till a mini-road trip! Hang in there…

  • http://thefunkykitchen.com Dana

    Hahaha, I live doused in sunscreen all summer long too! It’s funny, because my mum will spend the whole day outside with no sunscreen on, and no burn, she just tans a little darker. I’ll be outside in my SPF 75, which of course goes on like paste, and still manage to burn a little. I wish I took after her side of the family in that respect.

    Your cookies look great, and thank goodness, it’s the weekend! Here’s to hoping you made it all the way through Friday afternoon.

  • Ted

    I can totally vouch for these cookies, especially the texture, which I found remarkable (particularly as it’s something I tend not to pay much attention to)… they somehow manage to be dry and crumbly on the outside and chewy and moist on the inside. Judging by these cookies and the brownies Maddie previously baked, I can honestly say that these Baked guys sure know how to do an awful lot with texture, to say nothing of flavor (or flavour, for all you British readers out there)…

  • http://www.alittleginger.com Maddie

    Dana — I know exactly how you feel…my mom and little brother look almost Greek with their olive skin, and my pale dad and I both look Irish. Go figure! Keep wearing that sunscreen. :)

    Ted — Know what I just realized? These cookies would be perfect in ice cream sandwiches, since they’re nice and thin. Let’s make that happen before summer’s over!

  • Emily

    I love summer but totally with you on the pain of work during summertime…

    It is a serious problem that turning the oven on makes the house hotter, as I think I’ve been baking more lately and that somewhat counteracts the attempt to cool down…Funny story- I made chocolate chip cookies last week to take to the beach and Mike was convinced that I’d put peanut butter in them (I blame the yeungling and potentially a bit too much salt in the batter). Either way, these sound really good, better to intentionally include the peanut butter if people will think it’s there anyway!

  • http://emmainthekitchen.blogspot.com/ Emma

    I know this is an old entry but Australia is in the middle of a warm spring at the moment so I can relate more than I can say! I’m a bit envious of you lot going into winter although I do like warm weather.

    Those cookies look so chewy and delicious too.