How to make homemade peanut butter cookies

Measure into a large mixing bowl:

• One and 3/4 cup up brown sugar
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine with a nixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.

To the dough ingredients add:

• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix on low until well combined.

Then add:

• 1 large egg.

Beat again until blended.

Roll balls of about 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough into balls or use a small cookie scoop to form the dough balls. Place on a cookie sheet that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Place the cookies about 3 across on the sheet to allow for room to spread while baking.

Place 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar in a small bowl. Select a fork to make the criss cross pattern. Dip the fork into the peanut butter cookie dough in the bowl. Remove all dough from the fork, but allow the fork to retain a little stickiness from the dough.  Then place the fork tines in the small bowl of sugar to coat the tines, but shake off any excess.

Then use the tines of the fork to press an imprint of the fork into the cookie dough ball. It make take 2-3 presses to create the impression in the entire cookie dough ball. Make sure to re-apply the sugar to the tines of the fork every impression. Then to create the criss cross pattern, press the cookie ball with the tines of the fork from the opposite direction.

Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 7-8 minutes. Cool two minutes on the baking sheet before removing. Remove the cookies with a spatula to a cooling rack to cool completely.