Half Baked

I'm not much of a baker (aside from rice that is). Calling myself an intuitive cook might flatter me, but I have a very ad hoc approach to cooking. You can get away with that with cooking. Baking though, is a science. I have a series of horrible baking disasters under my belt that would make your hair turn white if you were really into baking or just generally very sensitive. Still, I had promised I'd bring in something for all of us working on Canada Day so I made some of my mom's peanut butter cookies:

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat to 375°
1. Cream peanut buter, butter, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla in large bowl until smooth and creamy.
2. Combine four, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture gradually, beating at low speed until thoroughly blended.
3. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. I f desired press wit fork
4. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool slightly, then remove to cooling rack
If you want, you can add chocolate chips at the end of mixing--about a cup.

Given what I said above, you can assume everything did not go perfectly. It did not. Kids, here's a simple tip for baking. Check whether you have the ingredients before you start baking. I did not. I didn't have any brown sugar, milk or vanilla extract though these could be replaced by, respectively, white sugar, water and nothing. As I was mixing everything together I noticed I didn't have enough flour or sugar. I decided to eyeball the baking soda and add a heaping 1/2 tsp. I ended up cooking them slightly longer in the oven but they turned out good. So I guess this story has a happy ending.