Sharing a family recipe for your weekend! My great-grandmother's recipe to be exact.

This is a cookie I've been making since I was a teenager. It's the type of recipe I always keep in my back pocket.

When I was home recently, my dad wanted a classic peanut butter cookie. Not flourless. Not sugar-free. Just a good old-fashioned cookie.

Sometimes thinking about food as being either good or bad can backfire into a stressful life of joyless eating. And you know what? Sometimes your emotions should play into what you want to eat. Sometimes just sitting and enjoying a cookie because it reminds you of a special memory, your mom or your childhood, that's when food can be powerful. Way beyond health.

This is a legit peanut butter cookie. No frills. No substitutions. Just like when we were all kids. Cross hatches and all.

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
extra sugar for rolling

Directions:

In a mixer, cream together butter and the sugars until well blended. Add the peanut butter and vanilla. Add the eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda and add to the peanut butter mixture.
Roll inch-sized balls of dough. I recommend using a cookie scoop to make the balls all the same size. Roll each ball in sugar and then place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten with a fork in a cross-hatch pattern.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 9-10 minutes, or until just turning golden brown around the edges. Let cool a few minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
TIP: Try not to over bake these! The longer they bake, the harder they will be. So, if you like a softer, chewier cookie, take them out when the edges are juuuust turning golden.

Well, I don't know about you, but this week was crazy. In a weird, work-went-by-fast-but-slow-at-the-same-time kind of way...

But hey, Happy Friday!