shiso mama

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, although it does occasionally hit the spot. (As an aside, did you know that there was a short-lived peanut butter restaurant in NYC? One of our friends was interviewed on CNN, waxing poetic about Fluffernutter sandwiches.) I do, however, love me a pb+j cookie. Same idea but in cookie form! Brilliant. Here’s a recipe I recently made up, adapted from various recipes. My cookie actually has relatively little sugar in it, because I prefer a less sweet cookie to go with my jam. This version is a little sandy in texture.

ingredients:
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c peanut butter (I used the natural, salted pb from Trader Joe, which is much runnier than Skippy, and has a nice, salty edge)
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 c flour
3/4 t baking soda
extra granulated sugar, for rolling dough
jam

Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing until well combined. Whisk flour and soda together and then add to the wet ingredients. I chilled the dough until firm, but I’m not entirely convinced this step is necessary. Form 1″ balls of dough and roll in granulated sugar. Use your thumb to make an indent and slightly flatten the dough, and fill the well with jam. I added another small piece of dough on top, to make it look more like a sandwich, and because, well, the last recipe I shared with you was a thumbprint cookie and I was feeling a bit unoriginal, but hey, you don’t gotta live with my guilt, so feel free to leave this step out. Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes.

A package of these will go out the door tomorrow to a friend who’s celebrating a birthday soon.