Peanut Butter Cookies

I received the first package my parents sent near the middle of last week. They sent it off on the 30th of October, and according to the United States Postal Service (USPS), the package arrived in "Russia" near the beginning of November. After that point, the tracking number no longer worked (for obvious reasons), but it took 4-5 weeks to get from where ever it was dropped off in Russia to a post office no where near the address it was sent to. Luckily my flatmate, Rachel, had a package she needed to pick up as well, so we went to this out of the way post office together.

Both our packages contained peanut butter and peanut butter candies - very American things that are hard to find here. Because of this and my interest in sharing different things, I told everyone I would bring in peanut butter cookies Tuesday, since I have Mondays off. And like the banana bread, the peanut butter cookies were a hit. I'm glad I made two batches because the cookies disappeared rapidly (this might have been because those who knew what peanut butter cookies were, Americans, took a few instead of just one!) Never-the-less, once again, I handed out the recipe. It seems that many people did not realize there was peanut butter in the cookies until they looked at the recipe - I guess this makes sense considering that many of them might not have ever had peanut butter before, or at least real, American peanut butter. :)

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, here's the recipe. I have marked vanilla as optional because I haven't been able to find real vanilla here and they turned out fine without (though they probably are even better with!)

GRANDMA WASKO'S PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1 c. butter 1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 c. peanut butter 2 ½ c. flour
1 c. granulated sugar 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 c. brown sugar ½ tsp. salt
2 eggs

• Thoroughly cream buter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs, & vanilla.
• Sift together dry ingredients & blend into creamed mixture.
• Roll into 1” balls & roll.
• Put on cookie sheet and use a damp fork to make a criss-cross design on top.

Bake in 375° oven for 8-10 minutes (or until golden brown). Cookies will be soft inside and a little crispy outside.

Enjoy!