Recipe from Lisa Ludwinski
Adapted by Margaux Laskey
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(307)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This recipe comes from Sister Pie, a Detroit bakery specializing in pies and baked goods, like blueberry plum balsamic pie, buttered corn scones and rhubarb blondies, that are “comforting with a side of adventure.” These oversize cookies embody that ethos. They’re tender, sweet and peanut buttery, but gussied up with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and a hint of smoked paprika. —Margaux Laskey
Featured in: The 19 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2018
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Ingredients
Yield:20 cookies
- 2cups/290 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅓cup/50 grams whole wheat flour
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- 3teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
- 1¼cups/310 grams creamy peanut butter
- ¾cup/150 grams packed light brown sugar
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 2large eggs, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½teaspoons flaky sea salt
- 1tablespoon turbinado sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (20 servings)
307 calories; 18 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 154 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Mix the dough: In a medium bowl, gently whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt and ½ teaspoon of the smoked paprika. Set aside.
Step
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Place the butter, peanut butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream on medium speed until hom*ogeneous and paste-like, about 4 minutes. You will see the mixture change from grainy and wet to fluffy and voluminous.
Step
3
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl and paddle thoroughly using a silicone spatula, to fully incorporate all ingredients.
Step
4
Add the flour mixture slowly and mix on low speed until the flour is completely incorporated. If you notice any flour at the bottom of the bowl, use your spatula to finish the mixing process.
Step
5
Scrape the cookie dough from the bowl onto a big sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough tightly and transfer to your refrigerator, where it should rest for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days. (Alternatively, you may freeze the dough for up to 3 months, then let it thaw on the kitchen counter overnight before proceeding with the recipe.)
Step
6
Take the dough out of the refrigerator 2 to 3 hours before you plan to bake the cookies. Once it’s quite soft, heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a ¼ cup measure to portion the dough into 2-inch balls. Place on the baking sheets. Slightly flatten each cookie to a ½-inch thickness with your palm, then use a fork to do that classic hashtag design on top.
Step
7
In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2½ teaspoons paprika, sea salt, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar. Top each cookie with about ½ teaspoon of the paprika mixture.
Step
8
Transfer the baking sheets to the oven and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating halfway through until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the tops don’t look wet at all.
Step
9
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes, before transferring the cookies to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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out of 5
307
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Cooking Notes
Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor
from Lisa Ludwinski herself: "You should have success with either natural or Jif. At the bakery, we use a creamy all-natural peanut butter that contains simply peanuts and salt."
ML
Can anyone explain why the dough needs to rest for so long? What would happen if you didn't wait 24 hours?
Sandra G
What kind of creamy peanut butter would you use.Do you have to use a creamy peanut butter that has added oil and sugar or can you use a creamy peanut butter that has no additives and is just plain roasted peanuts
Rachel Beard
Can this be made with creamy natural peanut butter or does it need to be the commercial type with hydrogenated oil? I’ve found that often peanut butter cookie recipes rely on the shortening-like qualities of the fat in commercial peanut butter in order to get the right texture.
Mary Cusic
I always cut the sugar in cookies. The ration should be no more 2 /1. 2 flour to 1 sugar. In this case, sine you are using peanut butter which also has sugar in it, you can even cut a bit more. You want to taste the essence of the cookie, not just the sugar. I also substitute honey for part of the sugar. What a taste, nice and earthy!
laura
Made these Vegan using a vegan egg product, natural peanut butter,and vegan butter. Worked well! Also used smoked paprika. Very good
Linda
I baked a sheet of cookies before refrigerating the dough just to see...I actually thought the cookie was chewier and less crumbly than the ones I baked after 24h refrigeration. Even when brought up to room temp, the dough wasn’t as easy to form as it was on my first sheet.
CM
Resting the dough helps the flour fully hydrate, and helps develop flavor. You can skip the rest but you’ll be eating a different cookie than the author intended. Same goes for cutting sugar or skipping whole wheat flour.
Angela
These cookies are very dry. I usually reduce sugar in cookie recipes but that was a mistake with these. I don't think I'll make these again.
Mariangela
I bookmarked these a couple years ago and finally got around to making them. Was excited mostly about the smoked paprika - so much so that despite reading the recipe through, I added ALL 3 teaspoons paprika to the batter. Only realized this when it came to making the topping! Honestly if I had only put 1/2 tsp paprika in batter it would have been too faint a flavor for me. I aged for 3 days in fridge and they were very flavorful.
Anne Marie
I halved the recipe and I am glad I did. They are good and interesting but satisfying my curiosity about how they taste with a small batch was a wise choice. I love PB and smoked paprika so I just had to try them. These are very large cookies (we ended up cutting them in quarters even). Nice experience but would not repeat.
JST
I used a 1 Tablespoon “ice cream scoop” to make these cookies. At this size 16 minutes of baking time burned the cookies. 11 minutes was just right. Yield 6 dozen. The sugar paprika topping gives the cookies a dark brown finish that is not appetizing. Following the suggestion of other cooks I cut back on the sugar since I was using peanut butter with added sugar. Next time I will not reduce the sugar but will add the paprika to the dough.
MAP
This is a very rich cookie. I preferred it made from a ball about 1-1/4” in diameter and double the amount of smoked paprika. Mine is very fresh, purchased specially to try this recipe, and it just didn’t shine with the given amounts. I also preferred coarse raw sugar in the topping.
Chloe
I would reduce the salt in the dough. These felt more savoury then sweet. The paprika was good - I thought it would be overpowering, but actually I think i’ll add a bit more next time.
Linda
I baked a sheet of cookies before refrigerating the dough just to see...I actually thought the cookie was chewier and less crumbly than the ones I baked after 24h refrigeration. Even when brought up to room temp, the dough wasn’t as easy to form as it was on my first sheet.
CM
Resting the dough helps the flour fully hydrate, and helps develop flavor. You can skip the rest but you’ll be eating a different cookie than the author intended. Same goes for cutting sugar or skipping whole wheat flour.
mw
Made these as directed, other than reducing granulated sugar to a 1/2 cup. They spread out more than I thought, and were fluffier than I'd bargained for. I personally wish they were a bit denser, but my partner called them the best peanut butter cookies he's ever had. Since I baked them for him, I'll call that a victory. Maybe next go-round I'll try reducing the fridge time. It seems silly to chill the dough for 24 hours, just to bring it back up to room temp before baking, but what do I know?
Ann
I found the effort not worth the result of dry and crumbly cookies I would not do it again. Also didn’t like the smoky paprika
ML
Can anyone explain why the dough needs to rest for so long? What would happen if you didn't wait 24 hours?
Laura Perry
Probably to ensure the dough is fully hydrated.
Robijn van Giesen
I used Maldon and halved the sugar for the topping. If you do so, be sure you just take a pinch of the mixture and drop it on top. The beauty of Maldon is in its crystalline crunch. Do not grind it up in your fingers! That smoky salty crunch was great on these cookies
Dee Dee
These were SO much better than I could have ever expected. Made them for a bake sale so I made 1.5 times the recipe and weighed them so they’d be uniform. I got 32 65-gram cookies. And they were utterly divine.
Debbie
Will it make a big difference if I substitute all purpose flour for the 1/3 cup whole wheat flour?
Sarah
These cookies are very good although they smell weird cooking. Honestly I didn't expect to like them, but they are delicious. I used a natural mixed nut butter which had no sugar, so the sweetness of the cookie was just right. Smoked paprika? Ingenious.
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