Salted Peanut Butter Cookies

I don't know what plans you have for the weekend, but you should stop what you are doing and make these.

I am going to go out on a limb and proclaim these as MY MOST FAVORITE OF ALL THE DAYS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE. 

Because saying "World's Best" is just so overdone.

They are a little crispy, chewy on the bottom, fudgy in the middle, and I am smitten with the crinkly tops sprinkled with sea salt. Also. They are delicious.

If you want to be virtuous you can tell your friends they are gluten and dairy free.

Salted Peanut Butter Cookies

adapted from Ovenly  and Smitten Kitchen

1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Coarse sea salt such as Maldon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl beat together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and peanut butter. Once all the ingredients come together it should have the look and feel of play-doh, this process takes a few minutes and you'll need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then.

Pop the mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes. This helps to create those lovely craggy tops. After 15 minutes stir the dough well. Use a 1/4 cup scoop (such as this one) to form the dough, and space evenly on the baking sheet. If you want your cookies to be rounded and high in the middle like the ones pictured, put the baking sheet with the portioned dough into the freezer for another 15 minutes. I typically get 16 cookies, the original recipe says 12. Sprinkle the tops with the sea salt and bake for 20 minutes. If you are baking two sheets of cookies at a time rotate the pans halfway through the baking time.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before being removed to cool. I simply slide them off the baking sheet with the parchment paper and allow to cool on the counter.

Notes:
- Do you need to freeze the dough? No, but the cookies will spread and have smoother tops. Not bad things mind you. You'll want to wait to sprinkle the salt on until after baking if this is the route you choose.
- Can I use a spoon to form the dough? Yes, but again the cookies won't look the same. Again, not a bad thing.
- Can I use natural peanut butter? Nope. The overall texture of the cookie will be different. This is a Skippy Peanut Butter all the way kind of situation, or maybe Jif if that's your thing.
- Sometimes I get little crispy almost burnt craggy bits on the edges of the baked cookie. Once cool I gently break them off to give the cookies a more uniform look.