Cast Iron Peanut Butter Cookies

"Cast iron peanut butter cookies? Aren't they hard to chew?"
Peanut butter cookies are almost as popular as chocolate chip cookies...but they may actually be better. They're one of the easiest baking dishes to make, and it's nearly impossible to mess them up...as long as the proper amounts of each ingredient are used. What you end up with here is a delicious -- and huge -- cookie that's solid and doesn't fall apart; yet it's soft, not dried out, and not crumbly. What's most important, of course, is its wonderful peanut butter taste!
These cookies were made in #3 sized (six-inch diameter) cast iron skillets. This recipe produces enough peanut butter cookie dough to just barely fill six #3 skillets, using three scoops of batter in each cookie. Using an ice cream scoop, it produced about 18 scoops of cookie dough. If you use a baking sheet, this would produce 18 cookies.
Pans needed: An electric mixer. While you can make this dough by hand, it's much easier to use a mixer to combine the ingredients. If you use a mixer, use the mixing bowl for the wet ingredients; otherwise use a large bowl, big enough for all ingredients. A second large bowl for dry ingredients. One small dish or bowl to crack the eggs into. Ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into each pan. If you don't use cast iron pans, a baking sheet is needed for the cookies. Also, parchment paper is needed to ensure the cookies don't stick.

Ingredients

  • Dry ingredients:
  • 2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Wet ingredients:
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 1/3 cups smooth peanut butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons honey
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • (Optional) 1/2 cup nuts (roasted peanuts or other nuts), crushed
  • (Optional) 1/4 cup roasted peanuts to top the cookies
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Using scissors, cut circles of parchment paper to fit into the bottom of each cast iron skillet. Grease the cooking surface of each cast iron skillet with shortening, including the sides. Press each circle of parchment paper into each pan, then grease the top of the parchment paper with a thin coating of more shortening.
In the large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. This is an important step, as it helps to incorporate air into the dough.
In the other (even larger) bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and honey. The butter needs to be soft; you may need to soften the butter in the microwave oven for 45 seconds on high. After the butter, peanut butter, sugar and honey are mixed (creamed) together, add eggs and vanilla. Stir them all together until thoroughly blended.
Pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl and mix them together with the wet ingredients. Keep mixing until it becomes a thick, clay-like batter. If you are using nuts, add them and mix them into the dough.
Scoop some batter into each cast iron skillet. Using a large spoon or spatula (or by pressing it down with your hands), spread it all out over the pan. After the dough has been spread and shaped into the pan, sprinkle roasted peanuts over the top. Press down on the peanuts with your hands, pressing them into the surface of each cookie.
Let a young child nibble at some of the cookie dough. This is important.
Place the pans in your oven and bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees F (176 degrees C). If you're using a 12-inch skillet to make a really big cookie, bake it for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F.
After 20 minutes (or 30 for a really big cookie), remove the hot cast iron pans from the oven and let them rest for at least two hours...or even overnight! Peanut butter cookies are very soft and moist, and they may look underdone when you take them out of the oven. If you try taking the cookie out of the pan while it's still warm, it will fall apart. But after cooling and resting for a long time, the cookies will be solid enough to remove from the pan and place onto a platter...or just hold in your hands while you eat them.

CONTACT

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