Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies

My grandmother always made the absolute best peanut butter cookies on earth. I used to look forward to going to her house on the holidays just so I could eat her cookies. Now, I am able to make them on my own and let me tell you, they are just wonderful! One of the great things about this recipe is that it makes a lot of cookies per batch. You can also refrigerate the dough in between cooking if you need to cook on separate days. These cookies are great for Christmas but are also wonderful at any time of the year. They can be made in advance and frozen without any diminishing of their flavor and crispness. Just remove from the freezer and allow to thaw to room temperature. I usually make a huge batch of these before Thanksgiving and another right before Christmas. My Mother in law ate about two dozen last Christmas!

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups shortening

2 cups peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ¾ cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

granulated sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream your shortening with the sugars. Add the peanut butter and mix. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour until you have a nice dough. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. Take a fork and dip it into the sugar and then use the fork to press down the balls in a crosshatch pattern. Do one press in one direction and the next in the opposite direction. You want to flatten the balls down but not make them too thin. They will spread a little more as they cook. Dip the fork back into the sugar after each press. This will leave a residue of sugar on the top of the cookies, captured in the pattern on top. Make sure you get enough sugar each time you press down. The sugar on top gives it a crusty, sweet top. You can use colored sugar as well to make the cookies more festive.

Bake the cookies for 12 - 15 minutes or until they are light brown on top and browned on the bottom. Let sit on the pan for a minute and transfer to a cooling rack. When the cookies are completely cooled, place them in an airtight container for storage. Store at room temperature or freeze for up to a month.

The texture of these cookies is wonderful and the taste is just peanut buttery enough without being overwhelming. This is the perfect cookie to complement fancier Christmas creations and give that special sense of home to any cookie platter.