 Peanut butter cookies with peanut chunks | |
| Type | Cookie |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Peanut butter |
A peanut butter cookie is a type of cookie that is distinguished for having peanut butter as a principal ingredient. The cookie originated in the United States, its development dating back to the 1910s.
George Washington Carver (1864–1943), an American agricultural extension educator, from Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, was the most well known promoter of the peanut as a replacement for the cotton crop, which had been heavily damaged by the boll weevil. He compiled 105 peanut recipes from various cookbooks, agricultural bulletins, and other sources. In his 1925 research bulletin called How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption, he included three recipes for peanut cookies calling for crushed or chopped peanuts. [1]
It was not until the early 1930s that peanut butter was listed as an ingredient in the cookies.
Early peanut butter cookies were either rolled thin and cut into shapes, or else they were dropped and made into balls; they did not have fork marks. The first reference to the famous criss-cross marks created with fork tines was published in the Schenectady Gazette on July 1, 1932. The Peanut Butter Cookies recipe said: "[s]hape 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." [2]
Pillsbury, one of the large flour producers, popularized the use of a fork in the 1930s. The Peanut Butter Balls recipe in the 1933 edition of Pillsbury's Balanced Recipes instructed the cook to press the cookies using fork tines. These early recipes do not explain why the advice is given to use a fork, though. The reason is that peanut butter cookie dough is dense, and unpressed, each cookie will not cook evenly. Using a fork to press the dough is a convenience of tool; bakers can also use a cookie shovel (spatula).
Foodportal 
A cookie or biscuit is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.
George Washington Carver was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century.
The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large commercial producers, both as grain legume and as an oil crop. Atypically among legumes, peanut pods develop underground leading botanist Carl Linnaeus to name peanuts hypogaea, which means "under the earth".
A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies are claimed to have originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe; however, historical recipes for grated or chopped chocolate cookies exist prior to 1938 by various other authors.
A cracker is a flat, dry baked biscuit typically made with flour. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking. Crackers are often branded as a nutritious and convenient way to consume a staple food or cereal grain.
Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Consumed in many countries, it is the most commonly used of the nut butters, a group that also includes cashew butter and almond butter.
Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening agents, as well as ingredients such as fats or flavorings.
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon. The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
The cuisine of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo varies widely, representing the food of indigenous people. Cassava, fufu, rice, plantain and potatoes are generally the staple foods eaten with other side dishes.
Ghanaian cuisine refers to the meals of the Ghanaian people. The main dishes of Ghana are centered around starchy staple foods, accompanied by either a sauce or soup as well as a source of protein. The primary ingredients for the vast majority of soups and stews are tomatoes, hot peppers, and onions. As a result of these main ingredients, most Ghanaian soups and stews appear red or orange.
The cuisine of Senegal is a West African cuisine that derives from the nation's many ethnic groups, the largest being the Wolof and is French influenced. Islam, which first embraced the region in the 11th century, also plays a role in the cuisine. Senegal was a colony of France until 1960. From the time of its colonization, emigrants have brought Senegalese cuisine to many other regions.
Peanut paste is a product of peanuts used in sauces, cookies, crackers, breakfast cereals and ice cream.
An oliebol is a Dutch beignet, doughnut or fried dough that is traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve. People often eat it with raisins baked inside and with powdered sugar on top. Another variation is made with apple inside instead of raisins. There are similar foods all around the world, for example: Samoan Panikeke. Eaten mostly with a Jam or Butter on top.
Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe, sauce d'arachide (French) or tigadèguèna is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa. While maafe is a dish originating in Senegal, tigadéguéna originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.
Rosketti or rosketi are traditional Chamorro cornstarch cookies.
Beninese cuisine involves many fresh meals served with a variety of sauces. Meat is usually quite expensive, and meals are generally light on meat and generous on vegetable fat.
The peanut butter blossom cookie originated in 1957, is made with a peanut butter cookie dough, and is topped with a piece of chocolate candy. The cookie is considered a snack or dessert and is often served at events or during holidays in the United States.
A yellowhammer cookie is a type of stuffed drop cookie containing peanuts, pecans, oats, honey and peanut butter. Invented for a school baking competition, it became the official state cookie of Alabama later that year. The recipe includes locally relevant ingredients and is named after Alabama's state bird.
Gorgoria is a crunchy glazed fried dough cookie from the Philippines. It originates from Malolos, Bulacan, and is popular throughout the Tagalog regions of Luzon. It is considered an heirloom recipe and its spread is credited to Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines. It is also variously spelled as gorgorya, gurgurya, golloria, or guluria among other names.
