Salty-Sweet Peanut Butter Sandies

Maybe it was the holidays or just that we had a lot going on, but somehow I missed the Salty-Sweet Peanut Butter Sandies from The New York Times. Luckily I found the recipe and made them this morning.

City Bakery Inspired Peanut Butter Sandies

Modeled after a peanut butter cookie from City Bakery in New York, Julia Moskin's Salty-Sweet Peanut Butter Sandies have an interesting appearance in that they pretty much hold the shape of the cookie scoop. Their texture is melt-in-your-mouth crumbly, and with 2 cups of peanut butter, they’re hardly lacking in peanut flavor. And then there's the salty-sweet topping. According to Pichet Ong, who appears in the video that goes with the recipe, the salt in the topping increases the saliva in your mouth and lessens the dry sensation peanut butter can impart in cookies.

European Style Butter

After reading the reviews in the New York Times comments section, I think there will be varying degrees of spread depending on what brands of butter, peanut butter and brown sugar one uses and whether or not one weighs or measures by volume. I followed the New York Times recipe using gram weights. Because it's about 2 degrees outside, I didn't want to trek to the gourmet market for cultured butter, but I used Land o' Lakes European Style. I do not think Land o' Lakes European style is cultured, but rather churned longer so it has less moisture and more fat. At any rate, it worked nicely. I'm guessing non-European style butter would have caused the cookies to spread more. Overall, these were really good. When the cookies are completely cool, the texture is a bit sandier. They are, unfortunately, hard to stop eating!

Super Small Batch Peanut Butter Sandies

I still love this recipe, but I rarely have a reason to make the full batch. For a small batch of about 13 medium size cookies, these measurements work.

• 56 grams cultured butter, room temperature
• 30 grams each, brown sugar and granulated (you can use slightly more, but I use 30 each)
• 130 grams unsweetened peanut butter, make sure it's one with salt
• 25 grams beaten egg
• tiny pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanlla
• ½ cup lightly spooned or weighed flour (62 grams)

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in peanut butter, egg, salt and vanilla. Stir in flour. Scoop with a medium cookie scoop. Roll in extra sugar (optional) and/or sprinkle with salt (optional). Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes.

• Sandy's Chocolate Cake
• Marbled Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie
• Almond Toffee Crunch Cookies
• Slice and Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
• Sunflower Sandies

Recipe

Peanut Butter Sandies

Anna

Modeled after the peanut butter cookies from New York's City Bakery.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 50

Ingredients

 

• 2 sticks cultured butter, softened (230 grams)
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar, packed (150 grams)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
• 2 cups peanut butter, unsweetened type** (520 grams)
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
• Mixture of 2 T. sugar and 1 T. salt for rolling optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or leave ungreased/un-lined.
• Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the peanut butter and eggs; Scrape sides of bowl and beat in the salt, and vanilla. When well blended, add flour and stir until it is blended.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls (or scoop with a medium cookie scoop) and arrange on cookie sheets about 2 ½-inches apart. Flatten balls with a fork making criss-cross patterns or just leave as balls. At this point you can sprinkle with the sugar salt mixture or skip it.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

Notes

For slightly sweeter cookies, you can use half unsweetened and half sweetened peanut butter.  I did this when short on unsweetened peanut butter.

Keyword peanut butter cookies

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