Peanut butter cookies have a cherished spot in American culinary traditions, due to its timeless irresistible appeal. Beyond the delightful nostalgic state, these cookies encapsulate a fascinating history of culture. For me, peanut butter cookies remind me of Christmas time, as every Christmas for as long as I can remember my grandmother and I bake our version of the classic peanut butter cookie. For my project I am going to delve into the classic recipe for the cookies as well as investigate its origin and fascinating recipe history.
The first peanut butter cookie recipe was released in 1916 in George Washington Carver’s cookbook “How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption.” In this cookbook there are actually three peanut butter cookie variations, for this project in particular I will be using the first of the three recipes. This recipe is listed as recipe number 17 in the book, and is titled “Peanut cookies number one.” The recipe calls for:
3 cups flour
½ cup of butter
2 eggs
1 cup sweet milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ cups ground peanuts
With these ingredients instruction lists to: Cream the butter and sugar; Beat eggs thoroughly and add to butter mixture; Add the flour to the mixture; Add vanilla to taste; Add ground peanuts; Then drop one spoonful into a well greased pan and bake. (Aggie-hort).
This recipe is very straightforward and to the point and overall very simple. While reading it I did not know what sweet milk was, and upon research I found that it is actually just a term used to refer to regular milk that has not been soured. In most vintage recipes sweet milk is used as this term because at the time when milk would spoil and turn sour, people would often find use for it, and so “sweet milk” in this case just means regular milk, (Allrecipes). The recipe also does not specify a baking time, I know for me and my grandmother personally we enjoy our cookies more doughy than the average person and so when we bake them we only leave them in for 5-7 minutes at most. I watched various videos of people baking these cookies and the best video I found was by Martha Stewart where she called them “Old- Fashioned Peanut Butter cookies.” (https://youtu.be/IKGI6sYc1Uw?feature=shared).
In her video she uses all the same ingredients, other than the milk, and goes through the same processes as listed by Carver. She makes a smaller batch than listed in the original recipe. She begins by creaming together room temperature butter with light brown sugar. In almost every recipe I saw where peanut butter cookies are made, the sugar that is used is brown. Upon research I found that this is because in olden days molasses was commonly used in baking and brown sugar offers the same burnt nutty flavor, as opposed to white sugar, because brown sugar contains molasses. Brown sugar is also used in most cookie recipes because it allows for a more moist dense cookie as it lets fewer air bubbles into the cookies, (Homemadesimple). After she creams together the sugar and butter she adds one large egg, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mixes it all together. She then adds one cup of peanut butter. She then takes a separate bowl and sifts together her dry ingredients. She sifts to ensure little to no lumps in the final product. She sifts one and a half cups of all purpose flour, one teaspoon baking soda, and then she mixes the dry mixture into the wet mixture. From here she proceeds to preheat the oven and chill the dough. Chilling the dough allows for the cookies to not spread as much and prevents crisp cookies. Once the dough is chilled she separates them into uniform spheres and adds the iconic fork marking on the top and bakes. In further research I found that the fork mark is added on top of the cookies because the peanut butter cookies are so dense and this helps them to bake all the way through, (Tastingtable). However, this step is not at all mentioned in the original recipe by George Washington Carver.
The iconic criss cross fork imprint began in 1932, when the Schenectady Gazette published an article where it said to “shape [the dough] into balls and after placing them on the cookie sheet, press each one down with a fork, first one way and then the other, so they look like squares on waffles” (Tastingtable). Later in 1933, Pillsbury published a recipe for peanut butter cookies as well which also instructed bakers to add the criss cross fork marking into the cookies. This made it especially popular in households because Pillsbury is very well respected and known for their cookie recipes and doughs, even today! Some people argue that the marking was used originally to distinguish the peanut butter cookies from the chocolate chip cookies in the cookie jar, however this is not really the most believable reason as peanut butter cookies have a very strong and distinguishable scent that can be used to differentiate them from other kinds of cookies, with a simple sniff. Betty Crocker has been known to argue the opposing side and insists that the cookies need the marking due to its dense consistency, to allow for even baking throughout.
The overall recipe has stayed pretty uniform to its original first recipe, which I find very interesting. The only thing that has changed from recipe to recipe through time is the amount of each ingredient used and swapping out white sugar for brown sugar. However, it is possible that the original recipe implied being made with brown sugar as brown sugar was gaining popularity at the time, as I had mentioned before because it eliminated the need for use of molasses. That being said, the recipe did not call for molasses, but is also very broad in general.
The recipe for peanut butter cookies has always been very popular and has been around for over a decade since its original publication. Upon researching I found that this is the case for a number of reasons. The first reason is how unbelievably simple they are to make. It is entirely possible to make this recipe in one bowl, or even in the peanut butter jar! I can absolutely recall a number of times my grandmother and I made this recipe straight from a peanut butter jar, of course this was just to make a small amount just for the two of us. The second reason for this recipe being so popular throughout the years is how easy it is to obtain the ingredients. Especially when this recipe was first released, peanuts were thought to not be safe for human consumption at all! It was George Washington Carver who changed this perception. Carver was a scientist who is best known for his work with peanuts. He experimented with the crop to make flours, oils, soups, and so much more. His famous cookbook about how to grow peanuts and how to use them to eat gained a lot of popularity. It was found that peanuts have a lot of protein and that made it more desirable because it was so much cheaper than meat protein options. Carver was very creative with his use of peanuts, and today we use a lot of his recipes in day to day life, for me personally I have peanut butter a few times a week at least!
In conclusion, the peanut butter cookie has a very rich history. It is embedded in American culinary traditions and will always have a timeless spot in the kitchen. The simplicity and deliciousness that these cookies have brought about its undeniable charm. Beyond its delicious taste, these humble cookies carried a rich history of innovation, adaptation, and enduring the love for a simple, yet iconic treat. As we savor the timeless delight of the peanut butter cookie, we also savor the stories and memories baked into each batch.
Bibliography:
- “6 Ingredients That Affect Your Cookies | Home Made Simple US.” Www.homemadesimple.com, http://www.homemadesimple.com/kitchen/6-ingredients-that-affect-your-baking/?rd=301&rd_source=www.homemadesimple.com/6-ingredients-that-affect-your-baking.html.
- “George Washington Carver’s Favorite Peanut Recipes.” Aggie-Hort.tamu.edu, aggie-hort.tamu.edu/plantanswers/recipes/peanutrecipes.html.
- Martin, Kalea. “The Truth about Peanut Butter Cookies’ Classic Crosshatch Pattern.” Tasting Table, 18 Sept. 2022, http://www.tastingtable.com/1008632/the-truth-about-peanut-butter-cookies-classic-crosshatch-pattern/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.
- “Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies – Martha Stewart.” Www.youtube.com, 4 Feb. 2014, youtu.be/IKGI6sYc1Uw?feature=shared. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.
- “What Is Sweet Milk — and Why Is It in so Many of My Grandma’s Recipes?” Allrecipes, http://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-sweet-milk/.
digital Humanities studio 