Two Cookies, almost the same recipe!!!

  I love how after the certain time of cooking and baking, the realization of the simplicity of the whole process comes to your life, and all of a sudden, everything makes sense, and you start creating, and playing, and making your own stuff, without being afraid. You heard how in baking everything makes sense, everything matters. So, there was a time, when I was very afraid to replace the amount of ingredients, to replace the ingredient itself. I tried carefully measuring, and stick to what the recipe told me to do. And then, one beautiful morning, my kitchen almost had a halo around, and the voice told me, that it was "Ok" to create. I started with the recipes, that were my "elementary school" of baking -cookies.I remember, that I was baking the batches of shortbread cookies, when I was 7 years old. My mom, did something, that I am as a mom, never do, left me unattended in the kitchen :) I think, that happened, because I was a very mature 7 year old Girl, and I am a mom to immature 9 and 5 year old Boys. :) Cookies...Let's start. One of my favorite customers in my store-Kim, who is a chef, asked me to bake a peanut butter cookie. I was not honest, and told her it was not a problem. I never done a peanut butter cookie before in my life, simply, because Peanut Butter is a not popular product in the rest of the world's supermarket shelf. I was around 16, when my neighbor's father-a pilot, invited us to try American food. There boxes of cereal, jars of peanut butter, and powdered milk. The peanut butter jar was colorful, and attractive. We got the spoons, and were ready to enjoy the Dulce de Leche-looked sweet creamy-paste. You should see our faces! It was a big disappointment for all of us. Since, then, I never bought a jar.
  I took my favorite Butter cookie recipe, and replace the butter with the creamy peanut butter, and tried, and tried, and tried one more time, until, here it was "crispy", "buttery", delicious cookie.

     This is for Kim. PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE.

 1 1/4 cup of flour

1 Tablespoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

115 gr. softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

1 cup (260 gr) creamy peanut butter

1 egg.

Whisk flour+ baking powder+salt

Beat butter in the mixer with paddle attachment, after 4 minutes, add white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat until butter until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Add peanut butter. Beat another minute. Beat in 1 egg. Add mix of flour. Do not over mix! Shape a flat disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight. 

Roll the walnut size balls of the dough with your palms. Place the balls on the baking tray, and flatten them with hand, you can use fork to impress the lines, and make your cookie flatter. Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes. 

Another cookie, that I really like, and was based on the same butter cookie recipe is Turkish Kurabye, or Middle Eastern Sesame Cookie.

      This is for my brother. KURABYE, or Middle Eastern Sesame Seed, Tahini Cookie.

 1 1/4 flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

115 gr. of softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 t.vanilla

1/3 cup of sesame seeds for rolling the cookies in.

Whisk flour+baking powder+salt.  Beat butter in mixer with paddle attachment +sugar until fluffy (5 minutes), add tahini+ vanilla. Add flour mix. Shape a flat disk , wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Shape the balls( walnut size). Roll the ball f dough in sesame seeds, and flatten it with your hand. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, you'll see the edges will be golden/brown.