The World's Best Peanut Butter Cookies

I know declaring anything to be "the world's best" is the quickest way to invite dissent, but I have to say, I adore these cookies.  And I've eaten my share of peanut butter cookies, too.  So until there's a Miss Peanut Butter Cookie pageant where all the peanut butter cookies can be judged (and not just on their looks, either - it's what's inside that counts) I'm just going to go ahead and claim this title.

2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Beat the peanut butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and then the baking soda, salt, and vanilla.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls; place them 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Use a fork to flatten cookies (honestly, they aren't peanut butter cookies unless they've been cross-hatched, I don't know why.)

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes, or until they're puffy and golden brown.  Let them sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.  Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.



Taken from "One Bite Won't Kill You" by Ann Hodgman.  Find it here on Amazon.