A Good Day for Baking Cookies

Winter has hit us very hard all throughout February, and now into March.  We have had a lot of snow and very cold, frigid temperatures lately.  I am looking out at a blanket of  snow, right now as I write.  This morning, when I went into work, the roads were a slushy, slippery mess and my car thermometer read 3* F.  BRRRRRR!  That was at 9:30 AM.  When I was coming home from work, the roads were a bit better, but the mercury had only risen 2*, making it 5* instead of 3*.  It was still frigid.  Then it started to snow yet again.  Now that I am home, I have no intentions of going out again today, unless it is absolutely necessary.  So being homebound, with no intentions of leaving again today, I thought it was a very good day to bake cookies.  By turning the oven on, it also helped to keep the house warmer too.

This is what it looks like outside.  The snow is still coming down, but not very hard.  My pond is frozen.

This is what it looked like inside.

My husband loves chocolate peanut butter cookies and has been asking for some for awhile now.  Today I decided to make them a bit differently though.  I made just plain cookies with the  Reese’s pieces, so very little chocolate, but a whole lot of peanut butter flavor.  Me, I just love cookies period.  It doesn’t really matter to me what kind I make; they are cookies after all, which means I am going to love them no matter what.  Yes, I certainly do have my favorites, but cookies in general always get a gold star in my book.

Peanut Butter Bites

These are just plain chocolate chip cookies but I used the Reese’s pieces instead of chocolate chips.

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 lb (2 sticks) softened butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed firmly

1 tsp vanilla

2 – 2/4 cups Reese’s pieces, depending on how peanut buttery and chocolate you like them

 

Preheat the oven to 350* F.

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Cream the butter and the sugars together, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.  Once all the soft ingredients are mixed together, add the flour, 1/2 batch at a time and mix in between each addition.  Then add the Reese’s pieces and fold in, combining thoroughly.

Once everything is thoroughly combined, drop about 1 TBSP of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and continue until the dough is done.  I like flatter cookies, so i usually give them a light press with the palm of my hand before palcing them in the oven.  Bake for about 14-18 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned and the edges are slightly crisp.  if you like them softer, reduce the time slightly.  Cool for about 5-7 minutes, then place the cookies on a cookie rack to cool completely.  You might just have to sample a few before they get plated up though, for quality control purposes.