Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies by an 8-Year-Old

Calling all peanut butter cookie enthusiasts! Rayhana, otherwise known as Sunshine Rayray, makes a delicious easy version that’s crumbly on the outside but soft in the middle. She then tops it off with her secret weapon of a single melty chocolate chip. Ooooh! Doesn’t that just make your mouth water?

We love the sound of chocolatey peanut butter cookies. Better yet, if this little 8-year-old ray of sunshine can make and bake them from scratch then so can you!

Now lets watch her whip up a batch of her favourite cookies!

Sunshine Rayray’s Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ cup peanut butter
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• Chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

1. 1. 1. With an electric mixer, beat the butter until it’s light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
      2. Add the white and brown sugars and continue beating for another 2 minutes.
   1. Mix in the egg and peanut butter.
   2. Now for the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to the butter mixture and stir until it is just combined. Just remember, it’s important that you do not over beat the flour.
   3. Now chill the dough so you don’t get flat cookies! First of all, before you pop it into the fridge, wrap your bowl of dough in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
   4. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
   5. Shape your dough into balls that are about 1 inch in diameter. (Note: you can make them bigger if you prefer). Then, place the balls of dough about 2 to 3 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet.
   6. Flatten all the balls in crisscross pattern with a fork. (Note: It helps to dip the fork in sugar to keep it from sticking to the dough).
   7. If you want chocolate chips in your peanut butter cookies, then take a chocolate chip morsel and lightly press onto the middle of each cookie. (Note: Rayhana’s cookies are bite-sized so a single chocolate chip is enough. If your cookies are larger, then you can put two or three chocolate chips. Why not right?)
   8. Bake at 150°C until the cookies are light brown, which is about 11 to 12 minutes. Then remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on their baking sheets for a minute.
   9. Eat and let these cookies bring a little sunshine to your day!

   Put a Little Fun into Baking

   Don’t these cookies look absolutely addictive?! We love how they are bite-sized too. That one chocolate chip on top of each little cookie is just perfect. Seems like little hands make cute little cookies.

   This is a simple, delicious recipe to enjoy with the entire family. It is also a great recipe to get your children started with if you want them to try their hands at baking.

2. Just make sure to supervise them when it comes to handling any electrical items such as the mixer or oven. And don’t forget to have fun with it! Check out the silly shapes Rayhana made including a gingerbread man and heart. Must be extra yummy!

   

   Some Cookie Tips to Consider

   There are a few tips that will help you make the best cookies every time:

   • Rayhana used smooth peanut butter but you can substitute crunchy peanut butter for cookies with more bite.
   • The type of peanut butter you use makes a difference. So, you can use natural and organic peanut butter to make these cookies but do be aware that if you pick brands that separates in the jar, it could make a difference in the outcome of your cookies. Of course, the best way to know for sure is to try it!
   • Measure your flour correctly. Don’t pack the flour into measurement cups or you’ll end up with too much flour. Instead, lightly scoop the desired amount and brush off the excess flour on top. Also, be sure to not overwork the flour into the dough. Mix it in until just combined.
   • Don’t forget to chill the dough before baking! If you skip this step, you’ll find that your cookies spread too much in the tray. As a result, you’ll end up with flat peanut butter cookies. Unless that’s the look you’re going for. Flatter cookies could be just what you need when you’re making smiley face peanut butter cookies and using the chocolate chip as eyes. It could work!
   • Dip the fork in sugar first to make a cross hatch pattern on your cookies. The sugar keeps the fork from sticking to the dough.
   • If you want crunchier cookies, bake your cookies at 180C for 9 to 10 minutes.
   • To make cleaning easier, line your baking sheet with parchment paper. NOT wax paper please! That could be a disaster.
   • If you opt to use chocolate chips in your peanut butter cookies, we recommend getting a good brand that melts nicely when baked. Some cheaper chocolate brands don’t taste as good and become hard as they cool from the oven.

    

   Calling All Mini-Sized Celebrity Chefs

   We’re always amazed at the cooking abilities of little kids. They definitely can do and accomplish much more than we give them credit for.

   Do you have a mini cooking or baking superstar you would like us to feature on Butterkicap? You can submit a video at contributors@butterkicap.com subject to our Butterkicap’s Kitchen Lab editor’s approval.

   Here’s what we need:

   1. A cooking or baking video featuring a child no more than 5 minutes in length.
   2. Ensure that the videos submitted are not too bulky in size. A three-minute video should be no more than 300mb in size. We will allow for up to 500mb for videos that are 5 minutes in duration.
   3. Submit the recipe in written form along with cooking and/or baking directions.
   4. A brief bio or write up of the little star that you would like us to feature.
   5. Return the consent form for Butterkicap to feature the video on Butterkicap.com as well as Butterkicap’s YouTube channel. The form is available here.

   We look forward to welcoming your mini celebrity chef into our community and featuring their talents on Butterkicap.com!