Everyone loves these soft, golden peanut butter cookies. They are a delicious teatime or party treat and kids love helping to make them. Eat them plain, or dip them in melted chocolate. You could also crumble them over ice cream, yoghurt or baked fruit for dessert to add nutty crunch and texture.

This recipe will make 27 (3 trays of 9) medium-sized cookies or 54 mini cookies (3 trays of 18).

You will need…makes 27 

• 3 baking trays lined with baking parchment
• 140g unsalted butter, softened
• 115g caster sugar
• 115g soft light brown sugar
•  large egg, beaten
• 115g crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 200g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Optional: 100g milk or dark cooking chocolate, melted. Extra chopped nuts or party sprinkles.

To make…

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 3 baking trays with baking parchment.
• Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth and soft. Gradually beat in the egg, peanut butter and vanilla.
• Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and fold into the mixture. Mix thoroughly.
• To make medium-sized cookies, split the mixture into 3 equal sections. Dust your hands lightly with flour to stop the mixture sticking. Divide each section of the mixture again into 9 even-sized pieces and roll them into balls. Place the 9 cookie balls out onto each baking tray in three lines of three. This makes 27 cookies in total. I do this dividing and spacing by eye but you could be more scientific and use e.g. a dessertspoon or template to guide you. To make mini-cookies, pinch out walnut-sized balls of dough i.e. 18 per baking sheet.
• Slightly flatten each dough ball gently with the prongs of a fork. The cookies will spread slightly as they cook so spacing them evenly on the tray will prevent them from running into each other. If in doubt, cook less per batch!
• Place the trays in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes or so prior to baking.
• Bake each tray separately on the middle shelf for 10 minutes. Check and bake for a further 2 minutes if necessary. They should be light and golden and can burn easily so watch them very carefully.
• As you take each tray from the oven, slide the cookies off the parchment with a palette knife onto a cooling tray.
• Once they are completely cool, store them in an airtight container.
• To make the chocolate edged cookies, melt the dark or light chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, dip each cookie in the melted chocolate to cover the edge. You could also sprinkle them with chopped nuts or sprinkles to make them even more festive for a kids party. Leave to cool and allow the chocolate to set before storing – they won’t last long!

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