Peanut Butter Cookies

Nothing says "I love you" like a giant heart-shaped cookie! When I was growing up, my mom always got us Valentine's Day gifts, and one year she made my sister and me each a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie using just the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips and her heart-shaped cake pans. I've resurrected this idea from time to time on Valentine's Day, but this year decided to try it with my husband's favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. What makes this recipe his favorite is that we add "extras" to the batter... like chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, or whatever candy or dried fruit we have in the pantry.

Whether you put it in two heart-shaped cake pans or just drop the dough in spoonfuls on a baking sheet, these cookies are full of love!

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter

1 t. vanilla

1/2 cup milk

 2 cups flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 - 1 1/2 cups of your favorite additions (chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, other candy or dried fruit, etc.) - Optional

In a mixer, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, peanut butter, vanilla and milk and continue to mix until combined. 

Separately combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on, gradually add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined. Stir in any addtional nuts, dried fruit or candy you'd like. If you want to make one for you and one for your sweetheart, divide the batter in half here and customize the additions. 

Add batter to two greased 9-inch heart-shaped cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cooked through. You may need to put aluminum foil on top of them for the last 5 minutes if the tops begin to brown before the cookies are fully cooked.

For drop cookies, scoop out 2 T. of dough at a time onto a greased cookie sheet. You can press them down with a fork to make the traditional peanut butter cookie waffle top. Bake cookies at 350 for 10-12 minutes.