This should keep you busy in the kitchen for a while:
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12oz peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (packed) brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter, peanut butter and vanilla until well blended. Beat in both sugars. Scrape down sides of bowl. Stir half of dry ingredients into mixture. Add eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Mix in remaining dry ingredients.
Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using back of fork, flatten dough balls and form crosshatch design on tops.
Bake cookies until dry on top and golden brown on bottom, about 14 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Chinese Almond Cookies
Ingredients:
¼ cup salted butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup almond flour
18 whole almonds
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions:
In a medium bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until well blended. Add the flours and mix until a soft dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or so, until the dough is firm.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator, divide it into 18 equal pieces and roll the pieces into balls with moistened hands. Place each ball on the parchment lined cookie sheets and flatten with the back of a wet spoon. Insert one whole almond in the center of each cookie and sprinkle the cookies with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, swapping and rotating the cookie sheets half way through baking until the edges turn golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack. The cookies will be soft so handle with care.
Mexican Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup Agave Nectar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Cinnamon Extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
4 discs of Ibarra Mexican chocolate, chopped
1 cup unsalted, dry roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the agave nectar, butter, eggs, cinnamon extract and vanilla extract on medium speed until pale yellow and fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the stand mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat the egg and flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold the chocolate chunks and peanuts (optional) into the batter.
Drop ¼ cup scoops of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet(s), 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet(s) for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If there are any cookies left by then, place them in a sealed container.
