The Best Peanut Butter Cookies || Baking with Kids

Isabella is always after me to bake with her. She loves being a big help in the 

kitchen. I'd be lying if I didn't say that baking with kids gives me anxiety. I've 

never been very good at it, even though I know there are so many lessons to 

learn over so many genres of learning when you bake. So every once in awhile 

I get brave and let her create with me in the kitchen. She's almost 9-years-old 

now, so it's not quite as nerve racking as it was when she was 5 and 6-years-old.

Do you like baking with your kids or does it give  you anxiety?

My good friend Niki was always telling me how her older girls were baking or

that she need something made for one thing or the other and she would ask them

to make it for her. I decided that if I want Isabella to be able to do that when she

is twelve/thirteen/fourteen, that I need to help her learn the skills now by 

working with me in the kitchen.

So when Eclipse 2017 rolled around and we decided we wanted to make

some Eclipse Cookies, Isabella was thrilled when I asked her if she wanted to

help me make them! We decided that our favorite peanut butter cookies would

make the perfect moon shapes and if we dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate 

they would be perfect. It was fun to let her gather the ingredients and all the 

tools we would need to make the cookies. Then she called me in when she was 

ready to get to baking!

Our favorite (and THE BEST) peanut butter cookie recipe is delicious! The

cookies are soft and chewy and bake to perfection in 10-12 minutes. You most

likely have the ingredients on hand and you don't have to press them with a fork.

You just roll in balls and drop them onto the cookie sheet.

I like to cover my cookie sheet with parchment paper to keep the pan fairly

clean and to avoid using the cooking sprays that aren't supposed to be so great

for you anymore.

THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (ever!)

{INGREDIENTS}

1 cup butter, softened

2 2/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups peanut butter

2 large eggs (whisked and beaten)

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

{INSTRUCTIONS}

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugar together.

2. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. 

4. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

4. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes before you try to transfer them to a cooling rack or they will fall apart!

Makes 3 dozen - depending on the size of your cookie scoop :D

If you want to dip in chocolate like we did, then melt the chocolate according to package directions, but add 1 T. of shortening. Then dip away!