Christmas week is upon us! I can not believe it! I feel like Thanksgiving was last week and we were gearing up for my daughters first Nutcracker performance…and poof! just like that, Santa will be here in the bat of an eyelash.
As I mentioned earlier in The Nutcracker and The Christmas Cookie post, every year the kids and I try to pick a different cookie to bake for Santa. After much Pinterest scrolling, cookbook thumbing, magazine reading and deliberation, we finally have a winning Santa Cookie for 2016! The Peanut Butter Crinkle..yay!! Props to Food Network Magazine’s December issue. They had quite the cookie line up. Everything from Pomegranate Meringue Swirls to Tiramisu Sandwich Cookies. I guess the kids are more traditionalist. They went with this Peanut Butter Crinkle partially because they both love peanut butter, but mostly I think they love that the tops of the cookies make cool craters all over as they bake. The best part of this recipe was that it was so easy, the kids really got to take part in every step of the recipe. It made it that much more fun for them, and it made me so happy to see them so proud of their work.
So, before I started baking Iread the whole recipe first…something I always do. It makes the flow of cooking or baking so much easier. We prepped all the ingredients and doled out the granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar in two separate dishes for the kids to roll the cookie balls in. I positioned the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheated it to 350 degrees.
My 5 year old son then whisked the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Then my 9 year old daughter took the hand mixer and beat the room temperature butter, brown sugar and peanut butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed until it was nice and creamy. She increased the speed to medium high and beat it for another couple of minutes until the mixture was fluffy. I added the egg and vanilla for her and she beat that together until combined. I think her arm felt like it was going to fall off…but she was a trooper! I gave her arm a break and reduced the mixer speed to low. She then added the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and I beat it all together until well blended. My son sprinkled in the chocolate chips and I combined that together as well.
Now started the fun part….our assembly line. I scooped the cookie mixture using a 1 inch scoop with an ejector and rolled it gently into a ball. I handed off to my son who rolled it in the granulated sugar bowl and then he plopped it into my daughter bowl of confectioners’ sugar (with each plop the puff of sugar smoke filled the kitchen table area and my daughter shirt with more and more sugar dust….I guess she shouldn’t have worn black…haha!)
I baked the cookies (2 sheet pans full) switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies were just firm around the edges and cracked on top, 15-18 minutes. The kids loved looking at the them in the oven and seeing them start to crackle. When I took them out I let them cool for about 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then I transferred them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
After they were completely cooled, I packed them away in a deep Tupperware container with parchment paper in between each layer. They will stay nice and fresh and the kids can’t wait to put out their cookies for Santa on Saturday night!
Definitely try out this recipe!
Wishing you and your families a very merry, happy and healthy holiday! May the food be plenty, the drinks be flowing and the dishes to clean be few!
~Christmas Kisses and Hanukkah Hugs from Caper and Olive~