Sugary Peanut Butter Hearts

Believe me when I tell you that these will be gone as they come out of the oven! These adorable peanut butter hearts will have you wishing Valentine's Day would hurry up and come back. 

But really, you don't need a holiday like Valentine's Day to give your friends and loved ones these cute cookies. 

Lets get our aprons on and get started!

We start with the best parts of any cookie recipe: the sugars!

Add 3/4 cup each of white and brown sugar (don't forget to pack that brown sugar like cute little sand castles!), 1/2 cup softened butter, and 1 cup creamy peanut butter.

Stir all that yummyness together until will combined. 

We'll then add in 2 large eggs.

Quinn, Laura, and Abigail and I all grew up with chickens. Of course, for them, they lived here in Juneau, while I had been living in Texas when my family owned chickens. We all agree that having chickens was a lot of fun, and if we ever stop touring, we'll be getting them again. There's just nothing like fresh eggs straight from your backyard (but be careful of those roosters!).

After the eggs, add in 1/3 cup milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla (Though, my philosophy is that extra vanilla is always a good idea. That way, if your cookies turn out terrible, at least they'll smell good!).

Beat those last three ingredients in with the peanut butter and sugar and set aside. 

Now for the dry ingredients! Combine 2 1/2 cups of flour, and a 1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. 

After a quick wisk, pour the dry ingredients in with the wet and start your mixer! If your dough gets too thick for your mixer, switch it out for a wooden spoon.

My little mixer can't handle anything too thick, but that just means I get an arm workout with my wooden spoon!

After your cookie dough is all mixed together and no flour is showing, place in the refrigerator for two hours, or until easy to handle.

I know, I know. I don't like waiting for cookies that have to be refrigerated. But believe me! These are worth it!

Once your cookie dough is ready to be rolled out, lightly flour a counter top and roll our your dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Now comes the fun part...

Cookie cutters!

This is the funnest part of course, so choose your cookie cutters with care! I wanted to make hearts because I had just gotten this particular cookie cutter on sale after Valentine's Day. It was too cute to not be used!

My mother's favorite cookies have always been peanut butter. One of my earliest memories is of her teaching me to use a big fork to mark the top of her peanut butter cookies. 

Even though I chose to make these shaped like hearts, I still wanted to make sure they had that special mark on them.

Put your cookies on an un-greased baking sheet and stick them in the oven at 350F for 7 to 9 minutes. Your kitchen will smell wonderful, and like I said before, these cookies will vanish right before your eyes as they come out of the oven!

 Here are my cookies before and after. They don't spread out too much, so feel free to stick them close together on the baking sheet. After all, the more cookies the better, right?

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Sugary Peanut Butter Hearts

     Adapted from the 2003 Country Women Christmas Cookbook 

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

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2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon making soda

In a large mixing bowl, cream sugars, peanut butter and butter. Add in eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat until fully combined and creamy. In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well, using wooden spoon if dough becomes too thick for mixer. Cover and put in refregorator for two hours, or until dough is easy to handle. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use desired cookie cutters and carefully place cookies on un-greased cookie sheet. Put in a 350F oven for 7 to 9 minutes. Watch them vanish before your eyes!