Peanut Butter Cookies

School has started up again and between my two internships and classes, things are crazy! Since I do not have much time to relax, when I do find a few moments for myself I want to enjoy them... aka I stuff myself with desserts and drinks!

Since I had some time to bake this week, I knew that I had to try out this peanut butter cookie recipe from a cookie book I received one Christmas.  I absolutely love anything with peanut butter! I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert.  And I usually just eat it right off the spoon! I recently became addicted to chunky peanut butter too, so I knew that these cookies were meant for me to make!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-1cup (2 sticks) butter, unsalted
-1 cup packed light brown sugar
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup crunchy peanut butter
-2 large eggs
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 cup salted, dry roasted peanuts or Reese's Pieces peanut butter chips (optional - I used the chips instead of peanuts and loved it! Depending on your mood, I would try out both ;))

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy.  Add in the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (a couple of minutes).  Beat in the peanut butter until fully incorporated.  Mix in the eggs one at a time and then add the vanilla.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients a little at a time until fully combined. Once the batter is well combined, stir in the peanuts or Reese's Pieces chips (if using).

Using a cookie scoop or generous spoonful, roll the dough into 2-inch balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment 2 inches apart from one another.  Press each cookie dough ball down with a dinner fork to create a crisscross design.  If the fork sticks to the dough you can dip it in cold water before pressing it down onto the dough.

Bake until the cookies puff up and the edges are slightly browned (9-11) minutes, and make sure to rotate the pan halfway through.  Be mindful that the cookies will not look fully baked when done, so do not overcook them.  Let them cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.  If you are like me though, you will not be able to wait and will just start pounding them down!

Serve with a glass of milk, coffee, or tea, and enjoy!

Now before I forget, I want to thank Samantha from Ferraro Kitchen for passing along the Versatile Blogger Award to me! She is new to the blogging community and a young college student so I can definitely relate to her! Samantha has a wonderful blog so if you have not checked it out, be sure to do so here. Thanks again so much Samantha!

As with many other awards, I shall not only thank Samantha over and over for passing this along to me, but I also must share 7 random facts with all of you and pass the award on to some of my favorite bloggers out there! 

So here it goes...

1.) I am a graduate student (which most of you know), but I am studying higher education and interning in the study abroad office, which I absolutely love!

2.) I have a secret crush on Elijah Wood even though he is not your typical leading man and I am pretty sure he may be shorter than me :/

3.) I have recently become obsessed with goat cheese.  In fact, I am going to be posting a goat cheese mousse recipe soon!

4.) I am a huge history buff and especially love European and British history and will read any book dealing with British history. 

5.) I have never ever had a malasada before but I crave them constantly! I saw a photo of them and have wanted them ever since!

6.) I have still not accepted that Harry Potter is over and have re-read the books several times and you should all be expecting to still see more potter related posts to come! Someone has to keep it alive, right??? ;) 

7.) I used to dream about moving to Egypt when I was younger and living life as a historian similar to Rachel Weisz's character in the first mummy.  Although I am still fascinated by Egyptian history I doubt I will be taking on a leading role and fighting mummies any time soon. 

Now to pass along the award, here is a list of food blogs that I love and food blogs that I have recently discovered and love:

1.) Kate @ Diethood

2.) Parsley @ The Deep Dish

3.) From Arepas to Zwetschgen

4.) Lizzy @ That Skinny Chick can Bake

5.) Chef Dennis @ Ask Chef Dennis

6.) Manu @ Manus Menu

7.) The Culinary Lens

8.) Mardi @ Eat, Live, Travel, Write

9.) Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That

10.) Cassie @ Bake Your Day

11.) Tiffany @ Como Water

12.) Tracey @ Tracey's Culinary Adventures

13.) Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen

14.) Sabrina @ Eat, Drink, and be Merry

15.) Kita @ Pass the Sushi

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