# Question regarding a cookie recipe



## chris_c (Feb 15, 2007)

I got a wonderful peanut butter cookie recipe on the Paula Deen cooking show. The recipe calls for:
1c peanut butter
1c sugar
1 egg
1t baking soda

The cookie is wonderful but mine turn out a little dry and crumbly. How can I slightly moisten the cookie?

thanks


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Chris,
The recipe is wonderful?
but they turned out dry and crumbly?
I think too many times we like to play chef and start tweeking formulas.
I always found it best to look for a formula that fits your needs.
Just my 2 cents.
Chris,
I'm not going to delete the above, but I just flipped back to your post and it sounds like you like the flavor but not the texture. 
I would look for a formula that has a little shortening in it.
Anything else like using white and brown sugar, adding other ingredients will alter the flavor.
HTH
pan


----------



## chris_c (Feb 15, 2007)

Thanks for your input. I think I'll try adding a little butter to the existing recipe since it took me forever to find a peanutty flavor that I like and that reminds me of my mom's.


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

At what time/temp are you baking the cookies. I have a similar recipe (coincidentally from PD) that calls for 350-degrees @ 12-minutes.

Shel


----------



## chris_c (Feb 15, 2007)

My recipe calls for 10 minutes at 350. What do you think of adding 1/2 stick of butter?


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I don't know - the recipe I have doesn't call for butter, and I'm not much of a baker so I really can't be of much help.

Shel


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Butter might not help with dry and crumbly. Might want to try a little shortening.
or the running advice here, is buttermilk will cure any problem with a recipe but I wouldn't try that with peanutbutter.


----------



## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

this doesnt sound like a Paula recipe! are you sure there is no butter and its not deep fried and coated in nacho cheese?


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

<LOL> Acxtually, the recipe I grabbed was for a no sugar cookie - Imagine that, a PD recipe with no sugar, cream cheese, or mayonnaise. I've not made it yet so I don't know if it's much good, but I do prefer my peanut butter cookies on the dry and less sweet side, so it might be just fine fo my taste.

Shel


----------



## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

I've used a similar recipe for years for the best flavored peanut butter cookies I've ever had EXCEPT the recipe I was given was only three ingredients, i.e., 1 c peanut butter, 1 egg and 1 c sugar (baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes). I'm not sure you'd want to add butter to the recipe. The peanut butter I use is Jiff's creamy. Before you start adding more oil/butter... suggest you try making the cookies a bitt flatter. I found my cookies crumbled easier if they were too thick.


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

The ingredients for the recipe I want to try are:

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I'll grind the peanut butter fresh - the machine at the store gives a grind between smooth and chunky that I like. No additives in the resulting peanut butter, no salt either, plus it's less expensive than commercial jarred peanut butter - and organic as well. You can probably do the same thing at home in a food processor.

Shel


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

Jif peanut butter is not really peanut butter. It's a peanut-flavored hydrogenated oil.

Got a food processor? Make your own fresh peanut/hazelnut/almond/etc butter in just seconds.


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

That brings up an interesting question: what does using a product like Jif (or any prepared food item that's got salt, oils, chemicals, etc. in it do to a recipe compared to, as in this case, making peanut butter with just peanuts?

Are the more contemporary recipes designed to accomodate prepared foods? How much might results change when using fresh made natural ingredients?

Shel


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

That might actually answer the original poster's question? What kind of peanut butter did he/she use?

I know the Betty Crocker cookbooks insist on shortening and I refuse to use shortening, so I don't use the recipes.

Time to haul out the McGee book again.


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

I've made her "magical peanut butter cookies" a few times. I am not supposed to eat much of any kind of sugar, so it satisfied my sweet tooth. Yes, it's crumbly. Unlike real sugar, Splenda doesn't act like a liquid in this recipe- but it does give some structure to the cookie in the absence of flour.

Here's the recipe I used:

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show: 
*Paula's Home Cooking*
Episode: 
*Healthy Cooking*

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy 
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda) 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. 
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from pan.


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Our commercial peanut butter in 35# pails is not something you would slather on bread. This is hard to explain to the lunch crowd.
Speaking of peanut butter.
I have been ill for over a month now with flu symptoms, high blood pressure, fatigue, blood and protien in my urinalasis. I have been for stress tests, ivp, etc. Put on blood pressure medication etc.
Well while watching the tube last night I just happened into the pantry to see what kind of peanutbutter I've been snacking on for the last month or so.
Well, it's Peter Pan 211161080012550 one of the ones pulled for salmonella.
Now I'm wondering? You all are smart. Should I go for more tests or should I have the peanutbutter tested? I have the crappiest ins possible.


----------



## newbiechef (Dec 12, 2006)

you know... fried cookies may not be all that bad... has anyone actually tried it? if so, howd they turn out? sounds a bit interesting, may be worth trying... my roommates and i fry stuff all the time. things from homemade fries to hush puppies to pickles... then we start randomly frying foods... just to see what happens, maybe fried cookies is the next big idea, who knows...


----------



## kcz (Dec 14, 2006)

Pan,

Tell your doctor that you may have been exposed to salmonella, so you can receive appropriate care. S/he will have to report this to the health dept, which will most likely want to test the PB, without charge to you.


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

KCZ,
Doctor says, not likely, but is having the family in first thing tomorrow to have tests. She said I do some symptoms of riters (havn't looked that up yet). My wife and I have low immune systems since we are both cancer survivors. Thank godness I'm borderline OCD with sanitation 
pan


----------



## kcz (Dec 14, 2006)

Pan,

I'm glad to hear you and your family are being checked out. Reiter's syndrome is a complication of salmonella infection, with arthritis and eye irritation.

BTW, I just threw out a (nearly empty) jar of 2111 Peter Pan.


----------



## erik (Jan 23, 2006)

Just a hunch, but this happens to the PB cookie I make at work when I don't mix it enough (a.k.a - follow the directions as written). So, maybe mixing it longer will help?


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

Oh, Panini! Good luck with that and feel better soon.


----------



## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

thats scary about the peter pan pnut butter.. i hope you guys are ok!


----------



## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

ok, I stand chastised if my Jif isn't pure ground peanuts. (Gosh, hope the pure ground peanut spread isn't used on store bought bread or crackers  .) Maybe the problem with the crumbling cookies is the difference between the pure ground peanuts vs the store brand varieties. As I am not a professional cook, I've not experienced the pails of peanut goo (?) you might find in a commercial kitchen.

Samonella can be dangerous, especially to children and immune-compromised folks. Symptons are diarrhea, fever, cramps, headache, nausea, loss of appetite and vomiting according to the CDC. Contaminated foods are commonly raw pountry, eggs, beef and unwashed fruit and vegies. Cross contamination can also be an issue - - for example a counter exposed to raw meat.

Better to be checked out then to suffer the results of contaminated food. Hope all is well.


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I don't think anyone was chastising you. Here's a list of Jif ingredientstaken from the Jif web site. The standard Jif Creamy is:

MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES AND SALT.

If you can, compare the taste of Jif and similar products with natural peanut butter. There are a few brands that should be easy to come by, or drop into any of a number of health food or natural grocery stores (and even some supermarkets) and grind your own. You may be surprised at the difference in taste, and may never go back to Jif-like butters again.

Shel


----------



## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

Problem with emails or posts is that inflection gets lost.  Yes, I have ground my own peanuts (both at the store and at home) and indeed, the taste of pure ground nuts differs greatly from store brand peanut butter. Because I don't use peanut butter often, I found that the oil in the fresh ground separated before I got around to using it up and it really wasn't worth the effort. For my purposes, a store brand works just fine. 

The question starting this thread was about crumbling peanut butter cookies from a PD recipe and my suggestion, based on my use of a similar recipe, was that perhaps the difference had to do with the type of peanut butter used and my doubt that adding shortening (butter, magerine, whatever) would eliminate the crumbling. I'm sure Alton Brown could give us the scientific answer. (This last was my attempt at humor - - not as an endorsement/insult of Alton Brown.)

Anyway, hope that the crumbling problem and salmonella concerns get worked out satisfactorily.


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Bubbamom, I'm no baker, but would letting the dough "rest" for a time help?

I have made my own nut butters (peanut and almond); they are drier. Adding a small amount of oil (I'm guessing I added 1 tablespoon per cup of nut butter) helped some.


----------



## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

Mezzaluna, I'm not a professional baker either so I guess maybe resting might help. I do know that in the recipe I used (pb, egg & sugar) they worked out better thin (< 1/4 inch)rather than a fatter cookie. I did make them thicker once when adding the usual chocolate kiss on top and those crumbled more. But you know what? A glass of cold milk and the broken pieces of cookie tasted pretty good to me! :lips:

I burned out a blender making almond butter once - - another fine mess I got myself into!


----------



## joyfull (May 24, 2006)

You can find this PB cookie recipe all over the net. It seems that PDean has added one extra ingredient to her recipe though. The baking soda.. 
You won't find baking soda in any of the other recipes. Its just the 3 ingredients.. PB. sugar, and an egg..
I'm no expert but there is no flour in the recipe so why would she add the soda? maybe the soda is whats making your cookies so crumbly.. I would try again without it and see how that goes..

As for the debate over what PB to use (natuaral or brand name) the natural is wonderful for toast etc. but for me anyway, stinks when it comes to baking..


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

If the original poster was using Peter Pan, then perhaps that was his problem.  I bet Alton would have something scientific to say about the presence of salmonella, right bubbamom?.


----------



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Were AB to come in close proximity to that "crap-in-a-jar," he'd probably be wearing one of those anti-germ suits and breathing through a respirator pack <LOL>

I just don't understand why people would buy Jif and Peter pan, etc., when there are so many choices available for natural peanut butters without all the sugar and chemicals in them. I guess I must be missing something. Cost? Convenience? Better quality isn't available in some areas?

Shel


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

I'm with you, Shel.  Alton Brown in an anti-germ suit.


----------



## joyfull (May 24, 2006)

Well this link is pretty interesting reading! More to add to the which PB to buy thing..

http://www.deanesmay.com/archives/007598.html

You can also google peanut butter + aflatoxin for lots more info.. 
I'm really starting to wonder if there is any food left out there that is not contaminated with something or other. Be it organic or not..


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

I think that's why the article is suggesting that we eat something less than a food. There's not enough food to go around anyway.


----------



## bubbamom (Jan 30, 2002)

Last night I happened to catch an add for this coming Sunday's Iron Chef America - - the secret ingredient: PEANUTS. I believe I saw some being ground up into (you guessed it) PEANUT BUTTER! I suspect the producers, writers, whomever, must have been monitoring this site for ideas for their show. :lol: Wonder if they'll be making these cookies? HMMMMM

I think one thing we all need to remember is that there is a time and a place for everything - - a time for Jif/Peter Pan and a time for natural ground nuts; a time to take ourselves seriously and a time to relax... I think Julia Child said it best when talking about her liberal use of cream and butter when she said (and I'm paraphrasing) "all things in moderation".


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Here, here, Bubbamom!


----------

