peanut butter and honey cookies

Saturday, June 23, 2012 |
I had an epic baking fail this week.  Trashed three trays worth of cookies fail.

This is not one of the 'fails.'  It's a perfectly delicious Peanut Butter and Honey Cookie.

It was a coworker’s birthday, and for favorite coworkers I will bake (note to everyone: if i like you, i will bake. that’s how you know.).  I asked what he liked in the way of baked goods.  He said peanut butter cookies.  I thought to myself ‘Perfect!’  Then I looked at my staples (sugar, flour, so on) and realized that I was out of white sugar.  No problem, right?  I’ll just substitute…something.  Turns out I had a jar of molasses.  Well, that’s easy!  Just find a peanut butter recipe that uses molasses! 

THESE are the failed cookies.  They seem innocuous...

So I found a recipe.  And I made it.  And those cookies look good, right?  Well…they tasted like hell.  And by that I mean they tasted like SULFUR.  I had a whole batch of Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks, and they reminded me of fire and brimstone and spoiled eggs.  Why?  Apparently the fancy, expensive organic molasses I bought was blackstrap molasses.  And that stuff is only decent in VERY small quantities.  I should have used refined molasses.  NOT GOOD.  I was so disappointed I threw out the whole mess.

To recap: I wasted all that time and still didn’t have white sugar or cookies to show for it.  %&$^!!!  Desperate times call for church cookbook recipes.  You may not know this about me, but I was raised Southern Baptist.  In Seattle.  Yeah, figure that one out (i still haven’t).  But back to the matter at hand: those church ladies are SERIOUS about their cookbooks.  I pulled out the most recent (my mom gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years back) and looked up peanut butter cookies.  And… there it was, an easy peanut butter recipe with honey – no white sugar or butter needed.  Amen. 

Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies (modified from recipe in From Our Kitchen to Yours)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine honey, oil, peanut butter and eggs in a stand mixer and beat on low until combined.  You can also mix by hand or with electric mixer on low setting until smooth.  Pro tip: spray your measuring cup with baking spray before you pour in the honey and peanut butter.  This will make it much easier to get your ingredients into the bowl later!

Whisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and add in two parts to the honey mixture, blending well after each addition.  Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place two inches apart on the parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Flatten with a fork and place on middle rack in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes and take out promptly – you don’t want to burn the bottoms!  Yields 18 cookies.

As you can probably tell, this is a Very. Easy. Recipe.  I would recommend it to beginners without a qualm.  It’s worth it to note that it is also a sugar-free and butter-free peanut butter cookie recipe.  That has to count for something, right?   We’ll pretend it’s healthy.  Oh, and coworker?  Pleased to bits.  Sweet success.


Recommended for: peanut butter lovers, the baking beginner as well as the veteran, anyone looking for a sugar-free peanut butter cookie recipe, and those experimenting with delicious oil-based baking projects.

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking.

26 comments:

Beth F said...

Oh no! Bummer on the molasses. What a disappointment. But the peanut butter ones look awesome.

(Diane) bookchickdi said...

We've all had those epic fail moments in the kitchen; you're a good sport to share yours. I agree with you on the church cookbooks, they are always the best.

Alissa said...

I'm shocked how simple this is! I can't wait to make them. And now I'm curious about molasses cookies as well. Hmmm.

Tanya Patrice said...

Gosh - I hate recipe fails - it always feels like time & food waster! But I absolutely love this recipe! It looks so easy and delicious, I'm going to make it tonight with my 2 boys - hopefully substituting white sugar for the honey will be okay.

Liviania said...

Oh no! My peanut butter cookies taste like molasses without any molasses. They're just egg, peanut butter, and dark brown sugar.

Carol @ Always Thyme to Cook said...

I didn't know that about molasses. But peanut and honey is such an awesome combination, my son make sandwiches of pb and honey, not jelly. Lucky co-worker, they look so good!

Carole said...

You are brave trying to bake. I am just not disciplined enough with measuring quantities to do it.

Have a super week

jama said...

Nice to have a PB recipe without added sugar! Thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about the blackstrap. That stuff is strong!

Kristen M. said...

The successful cookies sound really yummy! Cookies that taste like hell ... not so much. :)

Col (Col Reads) said...

I love your ability to make lemonade from lemons and honey :) Great post.

Peggy Ann said...

I love honey and peanut butter these will be in my cookie jar soon.

Beth S. said...

The peanut butter cookies look awesome. Bummer the other ones didn't work out. They look yummy. But yeah, I dont' want to be eating sulfur.

caite said...

Funny, those 'fails' look good. Very dark, but good.

Joy Weese Moll said...

Hey! I made that mistake, once. I still like having blackstrap molasses in the kitchen, but I use it in bread and mix honey with it.

M.A.D. said...

Sorry that your molasses cookies didn't work out, but WOW ... I'm drooling looking at the honey/peanut butter ones!! Will def try my hand at making these :D

Tales of Whimsy said...

Molasses is tough.
But the PB&H ones look fantastic!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I didn't even realize there were different kinds of molasses! There's nothing more frustrating than baking something only to have to toss it. I recently had to do that with my daughter's first birthday cake. Two layers of homemade strawberry cake. In the trash.

The final cookies look delicious, though!

Patty said...

I'm always interested in substituting white sugar - excellent recipe!

Unknown said...

So many cookies require a mixer. I need to invest in one. Are there any you recommend?

Cecelia said...

Cari: Good question. Not many of my cookie recipes actually require a mixer - it just cuts down on the time and effort. Creaming butter & sugars by hand is time consuming, but you can totally do it.

If you do go for a mixer, I suggest either a stand (as in Kitchenmaid, for $$$$) or a basic electric (such as Cuisinart) with detachable beaters. As I said, it just cuts down on time and effort, but if you think you'll be baking a lot, totally worth it. I bake about 3 times a month, and I usually think to myself that I could get by with a basic electric mixer. For now though I borrow the stand mixer from my roommate. Sadly, she's moving out at the end of July and I'll have to go back to my pre-stand mixing life.

Ginny Larsen said...

i have that cookbook too. i'll have to see whose recipe it was... looks pretty good. and i totally understand why you thought the molasses would work... cause you know, it was a cookie staple back at home.
hooray for saving the day with honey!

Ryan said...

Too bad the others didn't work out, they sounded so yummy. I do like the idea of the honey peanut butter cookies too.

Anonymous said...

Wow! The Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks looks sooo good in the picture!! They look nothing like a fail!!

Bridget Howard said...

I am totally going to make these they look delicious! !!

OMR said...

We've given up sugar for Lent &, 4 weeks into what seemed like a good idea at the time, one cold & blustery night we all had the munchies for something sweet. Excellent recipe, thank you! I added in some ground ginger, mixed spice & cinnamon & that worked really well.
So thanks to you, we're still on the wagon & the recipe is a keeper.
Best wishes from the UK.

KC said...

Mmm . . . this may have to be our Sunday treat this week. I love anything peanut butter and honey.

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