A partial repeat of a blog I posted back in December 2014 …

Cookies, anyone? The basic recipe for these peanut butter cookies came from my Aunt D who passed it on to my mother and later to me. Where Aunt D got the recipe, I have no idea; but each year when I start assembling the ingredients I think of Aunt D’s kitchen where something was always cooking on the stove or baking in the oven. And then I think of my mother’s kitchen where anything made from scratch on the stove or in the oven was limited to weekends only since Mother held down a fulltime job outside the home, at a time when very few moms did.

In the interest of full disclosure of my growing-up years, I should add that I stayed as far away from my mother’s kitchen as possible, opting instead for the clean-up detail which she gladly relinquished to me. Little did I know then how marriage and five always-hungry children would drastically change my perspective. That’s life or so it’s called.

Of course, over the years I’ve fiddled with the original peanut butter cookie recipe to where it now feels more like mine, but the basic ingredients remain the same and will produce the kind of cookie that invites you to pop one in your mouth and then another and another.

Peanut Butter Etcetera Cookies

Loretta Giacoletto

This recipe makes about 7 dozen cookies, depending on their size

Prior to baking, pre-heat oven to 325F degrees

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1cup softened butter

½ cup softened peanut butter

(I prefer super crunchy. Or, replace peanut butter with ½ cup butter)

2 large eggs

½ t salt

2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

2 cups oatmeal (I prefer old-fashioned rolled oats)

1 cup corn flakes

12 oz bag of butterscotch chips

Or

12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Or

6 oz each, butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream together:

Sugars, butter, peanut butter, and eggs

(I prefer using a heavy-duty stand mixer but a hand-held one would also work.

Or, for those of you with arms of steel, mix by hand with your tool of choice.)

Combine with whisk or sifter:

Salt, flour, baking powder, and baking soda

Add dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients and mix well.

Add oatmeal, combine well.

Add cornflakes, combine well.

Add butterscotch or chocolate chips,

Or divide cookie batter in half and add half bag of each chip to mixture.

Divide mixture into workable sections and

Roll each section into a log (about 1.5” diameter)

Chill logs until firm and easy to cut with a sharp knife

Cut logs ½ inch slices and place on cookie sheets

Bake in pre-heated 325F oven about 12 minutes or

Until the cookies are light brown on the bottom.

Store in cookie tins (add orange slice, apple quarter, or piece of bread to keep fresh)

Or,

Place in plastic freezer bags and store in fridge or freezer.

Enjoy!

So, what about you? Any recipes from long ago you’d like to share?

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