Peanut Butter Cookies (and Ice Cream Sandwiches)

I had this idea stuck in my head: peanut butter cookie ice cream sandwiches with concord grape ice cream. PBJ! I know there's a million peanut butter cookie recipes out there, but the one I really wanted to make was from a cookbook I had when I was little, that my golden retriever Emily chewed up and my mom had to throw away. I had pretty much given up on ever making that recipe again, but I happened to find a used copy of the book on Amazon!



$7 and 3 days later, it was mine. Ahh, the wonders of the internet. It was fun to flip through the recipes I hadn't seen in almost 15 years (eww, I'm old). Peanut Butter Capers are what I had in mind:



Since it's a recipe for kids it's easy, quick, and delicious. I actually cut it in half so I got 18 cookies instead of 36, but here's the full recipe:

1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Turn oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl mix shortening and peanut butter with a wooden spoon. Add sugar and brown sugar. Stir until mixed.



Add eggs and vanilla. Stir until mixed.

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into peanut butter mixture until well mixed. Use your hands if you need to.



With your hands, shape the dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass and make a crisscross mark with a fork.




Bake in the 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until light brown on the edges. Let cool on a cookie sheets 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes about 36 large cookies.



These cookies are great on their own...but I had something else in mind.



I scooped flat pieces of the concord grape ice cream and layered them to make the sandwich cookies.



Then I wrapped each one in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.



But not before trying one!



Yum. My grape ice cream could have been a little more grapey, but overall I was pretty happy with the final product. Homemade ice cream sandwiches are so easy to make, and of course you don't have to use homemade ice cream which makes it even easier. Maybe next time I'll try peanut butter cookie and chocolate ice cream sandwiches...