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| Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies |
What the Fork?
Who loves peanut butter cookies?
They were never my favorite when I was growing up. I may have eaten them if they were around, but I could take them or leave them. They just didn't ring my bell. The school used to serve them to us as one of the dessert items. They were always dry & hard. I did like my Mom and grandma's versions better, but they still weren't that thrilling to me.
Of course they were always easy to spot on a buffet table, because everyone marked them with a fork. Usually crosshatch, but not always. There are different lines of thought about why that practice started. Some say it was to make it easier to identify the cookie. Well, it's peanut butter. The smell alone is the identifier. It's not like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that you bite into, only to find you were betrayed because they are full of raisins.
Some feel that they were marked simply as a way to press the cookie down so it baked evenly. (Yeah, I could buy that, but it really depends on the recipe.) Why not just use the bottom of a glass to press them down? A fork seems like a goofy way to press cookie dough down when there are other ways that are more efficient.
Another line of thought is that they were marked so anyone allergic to peanuts would know. Maybe, but I wonder if peanut allergies were at the same level as they are now. For instance: Many schools don't serve them anymore, or allow them to be carried into school because peanut allergies are so prevalent now.
My line of thought is this: The person who first made the marks did it for decoration only, so it would resemble the ridges on a peanut shell.
I tracked down the first published recipe that included the fork treatment in the instructions. It was a cookbook named "Pillsbury's Balanced Recipes," in a recipe for "Peanut Butter Balls." There was also a recipe for peanut butter drop cookies in the same cookbook. You can find this cookbook for sale on vintage book websites or auction sites. The price is usually out of this world, though, because the book cover is a nifty silver tin, and it has binder rings so the recipes can be removed for ease of use. I found pictures on Reddit of pages from the cookbook, but I didn't want to use those because they aren't mine. If you use a search phrase and mention the cookbook, you can view the images too.
Who Invented Peanut Butter?
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the Incas were the first people to grind peanuts for use. The Incas were known as "master agriculturists" and many of the crops grown during their era are still a part of the Peruvian diet today.
In the United States, peanut butter made its first appearance in the late 1800s. In 1895, John Harvey Kellogg filed a patent for boiling and grinding nuts into a paste. Peanuts weren't specified in that patent, he used other nuts too. Nonetheless, peanut butter was born.
Kellogg...sounds familiar, eh? Well, if you thought about the cereal, you are correct. He was a "cereal pioneer." He was also a doctor and nutritionist, and in charge of a sanitarium. He wanted to create foods that were easier for his patients to eat, and peanut and other nut butters helped resolve that issue. Before the end of the century, one of his employees invented a machine to roast and grind peanuts, which surely made consuming peanut butter a much more pleasant experience for his patients.
So peanut butter was around, but not very well known right away. In 1896, Good Housekeeping magazine published an article that encouraged housewives to grind their own peanuts using a meat grinder. This may have been at the behest of Mr. Kellogg, who preferred a plant-based diet and viewed meat as an aphrodisiac. (That's speculation on my part, but the article was so close in time to his invention, that it seems likely.)
The first recipe for peanut butter cookies was published in 1902 in a cookbook called "Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book." Her recipe didn't call for using a fork to press the cookies down before baking because in her recipe, the dough was rolled out and cut into squares. I suspect she was influenced by the Good Housekeeping article though, because directly above the cookie recipe are instructions for grinding peanuts. (Her cookbook is in the public domain, and you can view it here. Alternatively, you can purchase a copy of it from an online merchant's site, but the prices are a little high, so...nah! Digital all the way!)
Peanut butter was formally introduced to the public in 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair.
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was an amazing man. He was a scientist, inventor, and teacher. He had a master's degree in agricultural science and spent a lot of time helping farmers with his experiments. Read more about this extraordinary man here.
Mr. Carver also did more for peanuts than any other American. He published bulletins on many subjects when he was alive, and I ran across one of them regarding peanuts. In this bulletin, he was promoting the use of peanuts and there are 105 recipes for peanuts! I am definitely going to try some of these recipes. Check out this bulletin. He was very thorough with his research and developed 300 ways to use peanuts! Ultimately, he became known as "The Father of the Peanut Industry."
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George Washington Carver
(Public Domain Photo)
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Recipe
This is now my favorite recipe for peanut butter cookies, (at least until I make one of Mr. Carver's recipes). 😁 It does not have a ton of sugar, and I don't use a fork to make the crosshatch marks. I like the way the cookies look without human intervention, and I have had no issues with them baking thoroughly.
If you bake a lot, you are probably familiar with your oven's temperature. The one I use tends to get a little hotter so if I have a recipe that says "bake for 8-10 minutes," I'm going to check it at 8 minutes. It really sucks when cookies get too brown on the bottom.
This recipe will make approximately 36 cookies if you use a cookie scoop that is 1.5 Tbsps. in size. A cookie scoop is not a mandatory item though. You can simply use 2 spoons to drop the cookies onto the sheet. That's what I did for years until cookie scoops spoiled me.
For this recipe, I used Jif Natural Peanut Butter, and the cookies in the photo at the top of this post were the result. You can use your favorite if you like.
Ingredients
3/4 C peanut butter
1/2 C butter (room temperature), or shortening
3/4 C packed light brown sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
3 Tbsps. milk (as needed, you might not need all 3)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 C AP flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Instructions
1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl - cream butter (or shortening), peanut butter, and sugar until well combined.
3. Add egg & vanilla, mix thoroughly.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Repeat step 4.
6. Add the rest of the flour and mix well. If dough is too crumbly & not holding together, add 1Tbsp. of milk & mix thoroughly. Repeat with the remaining Tbsps. of milk if necessary.
7. Cover bowl of dough with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. (With our fridge, I usually refrigerate for 30 to 45 minutes.)
8. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking liners. (If you don't have any available, don't worry about it. You can bake them directly on the sheet, just keep a closer eye on them. The sheets don't need to to be greased whether lined or not.)
9. ***When cookie refrigeration time is almost up, set oven to 375°.
10. Remove dough from refrigerator and drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
11. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let cookies rest for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
***Important Note: If you are using dark sheet pans, or older pans that have a darkened bottom, reduce oven temperature to 350°. Darker pans absorb more heat and can result in cookies getting too brown on the bottom, or even burned.
These cookies aren't overwhelmed by sugar and you can actually taste the peanut butter. Eat them as is, or frost them with peanut butter or chocolate frosting.
Enjoy!
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