Car crash cookies.

No worries, everyone's ok. Everyone except our Avtochko...but he will be fine eventually.

Yesterday, as I was leaving work, I found pieces of my car on the road next to where it was parked. It took a second for me to realize that someone had hit it, but then I saw the note on my windshield (thankfully, there was a note on the windshield!). Apparently an employee of a construction company wasn't paying enough attention to his turns or had some spacial awareness issues. Anyway, long story short, the front of the car is currently strapped on with little plastic ties, the light is broken but will be taped up until it can get properly repaired, and there's quite the scratch that will need a serious paint job. Avtochko will just not look as pretty for a while.

It was a bit of a process to deal with last night (and this morning), but when I came home from work yesterday, I was so glad to have some cookie dough ready in the freezer...and a gin and tonic poured and waiting for me, thanks to my wonderful fiance. I had made the dough for a batch of these peanut butter cookies earlier in the week and thought ahead to not bake the entire amount just then, which made last night's dessert a quick and easy process. I have to admit they didn't turn out as well as they did earlier this week - my mind was elsewhere (and Hannibal was on - anyone else love to be scared by that show?!). But still, this just goes to show how great - and necessary - it is to have cookie dough on hand in the freezer.

Peanut Butter Cookies, adapted from Smitten Kitchen. 
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1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter (we both like the chunky kind!) 

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp vanilla extract 

 Chocolate chips, as many as you want! 

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 

In the large bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter for several minutes until combined and fluffy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg, milk, and extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until dough comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Drop the dough by a tablespoon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; sprinkle with extra sugar. Make sure to leave plenty of space between each cookie, as the dough expands quite a bit. Use a fork to make a criss-cross pattern on the cookies. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look underdone, but they're not, they're just perfectly soft and chewy. Leave them on the baking sheet for about a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

I've found that 8 cookies per sheet works well. This ensures you won't eat the entire batch (trust me, you may want to) and leaves plenty of dough to freeze for tomorrow's dessert, unexpected visitors, or emergency situations, as above.