Tag: Mrs. Fields

Disneyland Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week I shared the recipe for Debbie Fields (A.K.A. Mrs. Fields) Peanut Butter Cookies and promised to find the recipe for the amazing Peanut Butter Cookies sold at Disneyland when I could find it.

peanut-butter-chunk-cookiesThere are many imposters and “copycat” recipes out there that were close, but none that I could find that were exactly like the cookies I remembered.  I finally came across a blog that focuses solely on the foods made and sold by the Disney Resorts.  Here I found out that Disney chefs do not bake the cookies, full of chunks of smooth peanut butter, they are made by Selma’s Cookies and packaged for Disney, but they are so good, does it really matter?

A little more Internet research led to a cookie blog linked to the Disney food blog that had great pictures and instructions for recreating the Disneyland Peanut Butter Cookie (with the added bonus of chocolate chunks!).

The important thing to making these cookies is to understand that you cannot simply put peanut butter chips into the cookies and expect them to taste like the cookies from peanut-butter-chunksGoofy’s Kitchen!  You have to take the added step (first) of making the peanut butter fudge that gets broken into chunks and pressed into the rolled cookie dough just before placing on the cookie sheets for baking.  It makes the difference between a good cookie and a great one!

As Close As You Can Get To Disneyland Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies

Peanut Butter Chunks:
  • 1/4 cup + 2 TBLS Peanut Butter Chips (Reese’s)
  • 1/4 cup + 2 TBLS Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1+ 1/2 TBLS Butter
Cookie Dough:
  • 2 sticks (8 oz) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup tightly packed brown sugar — (8 oz)
  • 1 cup Granulated Ssugar — (8 oz)
  • 1 + 1/4 cups Chunky or Smooth Peanut Butter — (11 7/8 oz jar)
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 + 2/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
 Instructions
  1. Make the peanut butter chunks first. Mix the peanut butter chips, peanut butter and butter in a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. If chips aren’t melted, heat for another 30 seconds.
  2. Make a small 2×5(ish) mold with foil (see photo). Pour the peanut butter mixture into the mold and chill it for about half an hour or until firm. Unmold the peanut butter log and cut into chunks.
  3. Proceed with the cookie dough. Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in peanut butter, then baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs one at a time, beating on a lower speed, then beat in vanilla. By hand or using lowest speed of mixer, Stir in the flour. When flour is mixed in, stir in chocolate chunks.
  4. Chill the dough for about an hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350° F. Using slightly less than a quarter cup measure, scoop up balls of dough and arrange on cookie sheet a few inches apart. Stick peanut butter chunkscookie-dough-ball into the already-scooped dough.
  6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until set and brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on pan for about 10 minutes to set. Remove from pan and set on a rack to finish cooling.
  7. Makes 24 big cookies

I cannot wait to make these!  Can you imagine taking two of these and putting a scoop of vanilla ice cream between them?  Yum!

If you are on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too:  https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies

pbcookieI love peanut butter cookies, something about them feels more special than a chocolate chip cookie.  Just like a sugar cookie tells me it’s Christmas, peanut butter cookies feel like a cold winter night with a warm cup of cocoa.  My mom wasn’t big on cooking dinner, but she did bake.  Cookies were easy, and peanut butter cookies were my dad’s favorite, so they were one that she made once in a while.

I’m not in bakeries often, but when I do get enticed by their heavenly smell and break down and buy them, I’m usually disappointed.  I’m impatient and can never wait to get home, I rarely even make it to the car, before I’m unfolding that waxed bakery bag and taking a big bite of salty peanut butter goodness.  More often than not, they are either too dry, too doughy or too greasy and leave me sorry that I bought them.

There have been very few exceptions, but among my favorite peanut butter cookies are: Mrs. Fields, French’s Bakery (Costa Mesa, Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Orange, CA), and Disneyland.

Lucky for all of us, Debbie Fields shared her recipe for her peanut butter cookies on her blog in 2012.  A bonus for the Gluten-Free crowd, there is no flour in it!

Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies

mfpbcookies1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
coarse salt or sugar, your choice

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and sugar. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg, then add vanilla directly to it and stir. Add egg mixture to peanut butter mixture and stir until well combined. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet. Using the tines of a fork, create a crosshatch pattern, flattening the dough about half the thickness. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of coarse salt or sugar, depending on your tastes. Bake for 10 minutes, or until barely golden brown around the edges. Makes 30 cookies

HINT:  A good-quality, natural peanut butter adds even richer flavor, but  you may need to add more sugar. Taste dough to determine.

HINT:  Kick these cookies up another notch by dipping cooled cookies in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Allow to cool completely before serving.

I never realized that there was no flour in these, which makes them gluten-free, but also explains why they never taste dry or doughy to me.

Next I’ll see if I can hunt down recipes for my other favorites so I can do an unscientific side by side taste test with my family to see which ones they prefer.

If you are on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too:  https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood