It’s almost the end of the month which means my pantry is very, very bare. I still need to feed the kids though, so today I committed a mortal sin. You guessed it, I made cookies with shortening.
ACK! I know, I know.
Shockingly, they didn’t suck. I did make the mistake of tasting the batter after creaming the not-butter with the sugars. I might have to scrub my tongue soon.
Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups peanut butter chips
Preheat to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cream sugars and shortening, add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, salt, mix well. Add oats and peanut butter chips, mix well.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls (I use an ice-cream scoop, it’s about a big tablespoon) onto cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Cool before transferring to wire rack.
Dough is safe to sample at this point. Do not taste prior to adding the flour. No really, don’t. It isn’t a little reward for your tongue like creamed butter and sugar is. It’s a punishment for not using real butter.
If, for some really weird reason, you don’t like peanut butter chips, feel free to use raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips or nuts.
Did I mention this dough is thick? Don’t use your favorite wood spoon.
Switch to sturdier spoon. This is what the mixed dough should look like, after removing wood shards.
Two inches apart. Don’t chill the dough or they won’t spread correctly. Ask me how I know that.
Quick, easy and a good way to use up shortening that you don’t know why you bought.
Catching Pennies 