Peanut butter cookies are an old standby.Probably for anybody who isn't allergic to peanuts.But if that's you,lets not talk about it so we don't get depressed.
Earlier this year I was talking to a teacher and she mentioned peanut butter cookies and said "I should make peanut butter cookies more.We need to get back to the good stuff."And she had a good point.Sometimes simple is best.I mean,of course chocolate ganache peanut butter whatchamacallit death pie is fabulous,but sometimes simple is where it's at.And these cookies really are simple.
It's my mom's recipe that was her mom's which she's been making forever,which I lvoed before I was vegan and continued to love after I was vegan.For when I first went vegan I had gotten into baking a few months before,and I started going to potlucks at Earthsave.So I would usually make banana bread and stuff and once,my mom made peanut butter cookies.Same recipe she used to make,but she just veganized it.I KNOW!And I remember this potluck very well,it was the AGM and I first met Allart and she asked for all the leftover cookies and explained that she doesn't eat wheat too often,but that these were great(albeit a bit broken up because I rode my bike with them from Richmond to Kitsilano with them in a tin).
So earlier this year,after my teacher made this comment,I really wanted classic peanut butter cookies.Like,real ones.With a crosshatch top,but also,the same right texture,because you can stick a fork down on any cookie,but that doesn't mean it's gonna taste the same.Like in spring 2007 I made the "peanut better" cookies from vive le vegan! and i'm sorry,but they weren't better.they were soft and tasted like maple syrup and peanut butter.peanut butter cookies are supposed to be crispy,a little melt in yr mouth,and really peanut buttery.But a lot of vegan recipes for peanut butter cookies just aren't the same.So anyways.after I decided that I wanted to "get back to the good stuff" or whateyvar I realized that my mom had made the perfect peanut butter cookies vegan before(although it was like 3 years before)so I had her give me the recipe and she remembered how she made it vegan(so easy)and voila.I was satisfied.And still am.So when I want classic peanut butter cookies,I can.And eat them too.
Another story about peanut butter cookies.
In October 2004 I had just moved back to Vancouver,BC about 2 months before.I didn't have any friends(heh,not much has changed,you jerk of a city)and spent most of my time with my sister,wearing giant sweaters,watching the cosby show,hanging out with mr.corleone,and reading.i started reading A LOT.and i became obsessed with harry potter.I had read the first 2 and enjoyed them immensely,but was too busy being social and whatnot to really get into the series.Well now I had.In October that year,my mom's mom(my grandma) passed away.I had never been to a funeral before.Anyways,the morning of her funeral I was lying in my sister Sarah's bed reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.I fell asleep and then was waken up right before we were supposed to leave to go to the grave yard in Burnaby for the funeral/burial.I remember being really hungry.I distinctly remember going into the kitchen and drinking some orange juice and breaking off a half of a peanut butter cookie.It was really good.I went back for another bite and let it melt in my mouth.I chased it with the orange juice and I liked the way that the crumbs and the orange flavour mingled on my gums.I went and got my book off of Sarah's bed and went back and ate a cookie.Then everyone got into the car(we had one car,and it was my dad,mom,daniel,patrick,sarah and I) and I was hungry so I grabbed a cookie or two.I had to lay in the trunk since there wasn't enough seats,but I had the Harry Potter book and these amazing cookies.I had never realized how good peanut butter cookies were,but I was in love.I fell asleep on the way to the graveyard and then went to my first funeral,which was a but strange since there was only the 6 of us and a rabbi,but still.
Basically,I realized that I really loved peanut butter cookies on a really depressing day,and it just goes to show that we should all be glad to be alive and that everyday is a good day as long as we're breathing.
Now,isn't it awesome how I told that story and photographed the cookies on Harry Potter napkins?I didn't even know I still had those!It's like I'm making all sorts of crazy connections in this post and it's mind boggling!Would you have caught that if I didn't mention it?Who knows.
oh,and I had to add chocolate chips to some for daniel because he asked.
great stories,huh?
