Oh the Cuteness!

I think I've mentioned in the past what a peanut butter fiend I am.  Peanut butter and chocolate ,  or bananas ,  or a combination thereof , etc. always gets me swooning. But sometimes you just want a really great peanut butter cookie and that's all you need. I've tried many a peanut butter cookie in my day - if they're on the menu I usually go for it - and all have fallen a little short of what, in my mind anyhow, constitutes the  perfect  cookie. I don't like super crispy cookies, so the classic ones with the fork hash marks in the center are usually out. And I don't like them with chunky peanut butter, or too soft, or too big/thick, or too sweet, or too greasy. Picky, picky, picky.  So the other day when Johnny asked if I would make some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for him I decided to play around with the recipe. I whipped up the dough, and I made a sheet with no chocolate chips for myself and added chips to what was left for him. When tho...

These are, quite possibly, the best oatmeal cookies ever. I've been making them since college and they're the greatest because, for one, the recipe makes like 3 dozen cookies. Two, they're the perfect texture - crispy on the edges and chewy through the middle. And three, they're friggin' delicious! Make them, trust me. Oatmeal Macaroons Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees 1 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 2/3 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 1 1/4 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1/2 cup chocolate chips (you can switch this out for any combination of chopped nuts, dried fruits, or other kinds of chips, and feel free to combine mix-ins up to 1 cup's worth) *For a vegan version, be sure to use vegan chocolate chips, and replace the eggs with 1/4 cup shortening and 1/4 cup applesauce. 1. With a rubber spatula, beat together the shorteni...