Clarissa Belle's Peanut Butter Cookies

My sister/neighbor lent me a collection of my grandmother's recipes. I've been slowly going through them and copying the ones I want to try on new cards (that I downloaded here at Cottage Industrialist).

I came across her "Peanut Butter Cookies" recipe and was excited by the fact(s) that it as an easy recipe with few ingredients and that, according to the scrawled note in my grandmother's hand, it is her mother's recipe.

My grandmother's mother was Mrs. Clarissa Belle Stantial. I don't know much about her. I know she had children (my grandmother included) and that one of her sons died in the second World War. Besides that, my great-grandmother is a name.

I don't like that that's the way it is. I wish I could ask my grandmother for a few stories about her mom. Easier said than done, though. While my grandmother is still alive (at age 97), she has been suffering from age-induced dementia for years now. She will answer questions and can recognize faces, but it's hard to imagine her telling a story.

That's why it's extra-special for me to bake their recipes; I feel closer to them, as close as I'm like to get.

And along with being special, it's easy. 

The ingredients are:

1/2 cup melted butter (melted butter is so much easier to obtain than softened butter. yay!)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1&1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

 I miraculously made it from my pantry to my kitchen table/work station with all ingredients in hand (actually, arms. I was hugging it all, like when you hug something you love).

 Clarissa's recipe doesn't give many instructions, so I assumed you just mixed it all together in a bowl.

 That worked and the batter seemed to have a good consistency. I spared you the picture because, no matter how many times I took it, the batter ended up looking unappetizing. Blame the lighting (or the photographer, actually), because it looks just fine and pleasant in person.

 Teaspoon out portions of dough and roll them into small balls. My cookie sheet fit a dozen of these dough balls. Flatten with fork, alternating directions to get the desired crisscross look we've come to associate with peanut butter cookies.

 I don't know if it was Clarissa Belle or my grandmother Dorothy that came up with the actual baking instructions (10 minute at 375 degrees), but they didin't work for me. My oven runs hot, so I baked them at 360 degrees and (naughty me) discovered that 10 minutes is too long (the hard way). My first batch came out brown and hard around the edges.

Readjusting: (I should have just stood by the oven and watched them bake on the first trial run, but I was distracted by my playlist. On my laptop. In my bedroom. Music: ruining some things while making everything else more awesome). The second time around I baked them for 8 minutes, let them sit on the cookie sheet for an additional two minutes, then removed to my clean counterspace to cool (remember, using a wire rack is smarter, but I don't own one. Birthday's in two days. Fingers crossed.)

 They came out looking awesome and smelling even better than that somehow. After letting them cool enough to hazard a taste-test, I chewed on the gritty, rich peanut-butteriness with a sense of awe and respect. My great-grandmother made these cookies. And now I'm making them. Let the powers of lady bakers, delicious cookies, and simple recipes never die.

 Here's the recipe all nice and compact!

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1&1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

 Roll in small balls & flatten with fork. Bake 10 minutes at 375 (or, as I did, for 8 minutes at 360).

I hope you enjoy my great-grandmother Clarissa Belle's recipe! Do you have any recipes from family members that you keep alive?