124/365 Holiday cookie exchange

It's early December, which means it's time for one of my girlfriends' annual holiday cookie exchange party! Each year she invites a bunch of people, then those of us who can make it bring 1/2 dozen cookies for each person to take home, plus another dozen for everyone to sample at the party.

So you can understand how the number of attendees drastically affects your workload the day before!

This year it was a small crew, so I only had to make five dozen, which ended up being two batches of my recipe. I chose to do these fantastic peanut-butter cookies that amazingly don't call for any flour. I made them for a Symphony on the Prairie outing this past summer and they were a huge hit. Combine positive reviews with few ingredients and a simple recipe and you have a winner!

I highly recommend you give them a try if you're at all a fan of peanut butter. Or cookies. Here's the recipe, or you can find it at TheKitchn:

Sensational Peanut Butter Cookies
18 cookies

1 cup peanut butter (see note)
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
additional sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees°F.

Mix all the ingredients up in a bowl. Roll walnut-sized pieces into balls and roll balls in the additional sugar. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes (you may need to lessen the time, depending on your peanut butter). Remove and let cool before removing from baking sheet.

Note: Peanut butter comes in all kinds of configurations and the kind you choose will influence your outcome. Some peanut butters are very sweet, some have been hydrogenated, some have a whole lot more in them than peanuts! Then there is the chunky versus smooth debate. If you choose a drier peanut butter, you may find that you need to add some oil to make the batter stick together.

Happy baking!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/60s, f/2.8 at ISO 320 by a window at about 3:00 p.m.