29.Apr.2009 Peanut Nobody

Whew, then. Friday marks the last day of recipe coming-up-with…edness for Joni and me. Frantic? Maybe just a little.

Friday also happens to be the last day to enter the giveaway: the two winners will be notified and announced as soon as time and sanity permit next week. So tell your friends if you haven’t already.

But in the meantime, here is a recipe for cookies that are so peanut buttery and rich, you’ll have to do a double take…bite…to make sure you didn’t dream it.

Oh, by the way: even though I swore up and down that Twitter was evil and made my head spin à la The Exorcist, I finally got settled over there. So if you’re a tw…uhm, a tweet too, say hi.

Hope the second slice of the week goes well for everyone!

Peanut Brittle Cookies

1 cup (112 g) dry roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons (28 g) nondairy butter
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup (176 g) Sucanat, divided
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (128 g) creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) whiskey
2 tablespoons (30 ml) plain soy or other nondairy milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (120 g) light spelt flour
1/2 cup (39 g) quick-cooking oats, finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, such as Silpat.
Place peanuts, butter, water, and 1/4 cup (48 g) Sucanat in a small saucepan.
Heat on medium-high, bring to a low boil and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, lowering the heat to medium, until the peanuts get some color to them, and that the liquid is mostly gone. Remove from heat. Let cool a few minutes.
Transfer the preparation to a large bowl. If it has hardened, break it apart a little bit. Combine with 2/3 cup (128 g) Sucanat, salt, peanut butter, whiskey, milk, and vanilla.
Stir in flour, ground oats, and baking powder.
Divide dough into 16 equal portions (about 2 tablespoons, 42 g per cookie). Place on prepared cookie sheets.
Flatten the cookies as much as you want them to be, as they don’t spread while baking.
Store in fridge for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).
Bake cookies for 15 minutes; or until the edges are golden brown. Wait a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 16 cookies