花生醬曲奇 Peanut Butter Cookies

終於！終於！我挑戰曲奇成功了，可以說是大成功，西人一看到第一句是說“wow，看來你做對了”，吃完第一口說“hmmm….可以，就是這個味道了！”，看到他的反應，我就只輕輕的說了一句“你看，我是會做甜點的，不要再叫我放棄做曲奇了！”，這種征服的感覺特別爽！

Finally! Finally! I successfully challenged cookies. I would call it a “big success” this time. When Mr Large just first looked at the cookies, he said “Wow! You made it this time!”. After he tried the first bite, he further said “hmmmm….quite good. This is what peanut butter cookies should taste like”. This is the kind of sense of achievement I am always looking for when I take on a challenge. You have overcome something that you were told to give up or no one believed (even yourself) that you would be able to make it!

老實說，在被要求放棄後，我沒有真的放棄，我有繼續研究不同的食譜、不同甜點專家的分享，同時也給自己配備了一個廚房稱，因為其中一個我參考的甜點達人有分享，有時候曲奇做出來像蛋糕是因為沒量準麵粉的份量，尤其是如果用量杯，特別容易量多了，這也是為什麼我等了兩週再嘗試曲奇，因為我想等到我的廚房稱再嘗試，果然，這次做出來的不像之前那樣，總像蛋糕那樣，這次做出來外面有點酥脆，但內面是軟的，這也是西人口中曲奇該有的質感。

Honestly speaking, since I was told to give up on cookies, I have not really given up. I have research and studied different recipes and the experiences shared by other people. Besides, as I shared last time, accurate measurement of ingredients is particularly important when making dessert. I have got myself a kitchen scale finally. One of the dessert guru shared that sometimes the cookies tase too “cakery” is because we have put too much flour using measurement cup to measure. It is totally worth it to wait for 2 weeks for the kitchen scale. Having a more precise and accurate measurement, the texture of the cookies I made this time is totally different. It’s the more crunchy outside but soft and chewy inside type!

傳統的花生醬曲奇會在外面裹一層白糖才烤，而且必須要用叉子在上面壓兩下弄個造型。除此之外，另外一個學習到做曲奇的技巧是，要把混合好的材料先放冰箱30分鐘，這樣可以讓你更容易揉成圓形才烤，做出來的曲奇的形狀更美更一致。這邊簡單的分享一下這個食譜，我基本跟著食譜去做，但減少了白糖的份量，也已經很夠甜了！說到糖，也分享一下學到關於使用黃糖和白糖在甜點的區別，用黃糖的話，甜點的質感會更濕潤，白糖就比較乾，所以我覺得做曲奇比較適合用黃糖。

Traditional peanut butter cookies have two special features – 1) wrap the cookies with some white sugar before baking; 2) use a fork to make a fork mark on the cookies. Apart from this, another key skill I learn about making cookies is to put the cookie dough in the fridge for about 30 mins before baking. This will help you to form a round shape cookies more easily and to ensure similar sizes of your cookies. Here to share the recipe that I used. I have followed mostly the recipe except that I have cut down the white sugar used. It’s still very much sweet enough. Talking about sugar, another learning I have from my research is the difference between brown sugar and white sugar in making dessert. Brown sugar will give more moist in your dessert and thus I think it’s a better option for cookies.

花生醬曲奇 Peanut Butter Cookies

_份量 ^_Servings	_準備時間 ^{_{Prep Time}}	_烹調時間 ^{_{Cook Time}}	_難度 _^Difficulty
17-20塊pcs	^{30 mins}	^{10 mins}	^★★★

材料 INGREDIENTS：

黃油 Butter	140g
花生醬 Peanut Butter	140g
黃糖 Brown Sugar	135g
白糖 White Sugar	25g（或者不放 Or skip it at all)
雞蛋 Egg	1
香草精 Vanilla Extract	1/2 tsp
麵粉 All Purpose Flour	185g
玉米澱粉 Cornstarch	1 tbsp
蘇打粉 Baking Soda	3/4 tsp
鹽 Salt	3/4 tsp

做法 DIRECTIONS：

先把放至室溫的黃油和花生醬、黃糖、白糖混合好 Combine room temperature butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and white sugar and mix well
加入放至室溫的雞蛋和香草精混合好 Add egg (room temperature) and vanilla extract and combine well
用另外一個碗，把麵粉、玉米澱粉、蘇打粉和鹽混合好 Mix well flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl
慢慢分批把麵粉放進花生醬部分，慢慢攪拌均勻 Gradually stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture and combine well
把曲奇團用保鮮膜蓋好放進冰箱30分鐘 Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place the cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30mins
預熱烤箱350F，在烤盤放上烘焙紙 Preheat oven to 350F. Put a parchment paper on the baking try
用湯匙弄成球形，裹一層白砂糖，放在烤盤上，用叉壓兩下 Use a spoon to scoop the cookie dough. Roll the dough to ball shape and roll thoroughly some granulated sugar. Place the cookies on the baking tray. Use the tines of a fork to gently make a criss-cross pattern
350F烤大概10分鐘直到曲奇周邊有點金黃色，裡面還是軟的，拿出來放涼就可以啦 Bake on 350F for about 10 mins. Edges should be a little golden brown but still soft inside. Take them out and let them cool.

剛剛烤好是這樣，放一會兒就會比較好看 This is how the cookies look like right out from the oven

我這個份量大概做了17片曲奇（大概4-5寸大），如果覺得太大，可以做小一點，但相信烤的時間也可以縮短到9分鐘左右。Based on this recipes, I have made around 17 cookies with a diameter of around 4-5 inches. You can make it smaller if you want and perhaps only need to bake for around 9 mins.

這個曲奇西人大愛，一直停不下來吃，成功挑戰了這個傳統的曲奇，下次是時候再試做巧克力曲奇了！敬請期待！Mr Large loves this cookies and couldn’t stop eating it. I’m already thinking my next challenge of another traditional cookies – chocolate chips cookies!