Easy Game Day Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies

Football season has begun and with that comes our beloved tailgating & fall traditions! During football season you'll find my husband doing one of three things:

                                                           1) Brewing Beer
                                                           2) Watching multiple games on TV
                                                           3) Tailgating with friends

He lives for this time of year. The delicious smell of wort during the mash process, a brat in one hand and cold beer in the other....ahhh, this is living, this is Game Day, y'all.

I'm very similar to my Groom. I love sipping hot apple cider and baking during this time of year. Baking pumpkin bread, cookies and well breads of all kind! We are a family of comfort of food and drink during Football season. And we've got our game faces on as we prepare our next brews and bakes for the upcoming weekend!

I pretty much always having homemade cookies in our cookie jar and it's almost always double chocolate chip cookies {my kids favorite}. Today I got a little ahead of myself and decided to bake something with a little more protein to see us through this busy weekend, but also filled with fall flavors. In one day we have flag football and cheer for our littles, ACT test for our college bound high school senior, watching the Hogs beat TCU, a sleepover for our daughter and my parents annual chili supper at the lake with family and friends. Brewing beer and baking pumpkin bread will just have to wait till next weekend. But weekends like this are what fall is all about, wrapped into a warm blanket, and we are ready to cozy up!

{This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies}

Today's fall bake is so easy, and if you've never tried making peanut butter cookies this way you have no idea what you are missing. I know some people say they can't bake, but you can't mess this recipe up unless you go out of your way to burn them. These cookies are great for busy weekends, game days, tailgating, or any time you just want to have a cookie jar full of fall flavors. If fall flavors are not for you, you have a problem....try using regular or crunchy peanut butter instead.

-Preheat oven to 325-

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin spice peanut butter 

{by Peanut Butter & Co.}

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

Directions

Cream all 3 ingredients together in a medium size bowl. Mix well so that the egg is blended.

Put mix into the refrigerator uncovered for 30 minutes 

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper

Scoop out cookie dough and roll into a ball

Flatten with a wooden spoon or 

make a criss-cross pattern with a fork

Put in the oven and set timer for 18-20 minutes

{mine only need 18 minutes max}

Let cool on a wire rack until ready to consume 

with a big ol' glass of milk.

Or save a few for breakfast and have with coffee-

it's life changing y'all-trust me

Enjoy!

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've never been a cookie maker....or real baker for that matter. Although those are my passions, my favorites, I've always been much better at savory dishes. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, meatballs, sauce, gravy~I've got those down. But baking has always been my Achilles heel. And that's been heartbreaking for me. Homemade bread....never rises. Home baked cookies, flat and crunchy. Pie Crust, from a box because I still can't make it (did I mention I have a giant "How to Make the Perfect Pie Crust" print on my kitchen wall and I still can't get it right!). Cakes....lets not go there. {sigh}

So, I have a glass cookie jar. I've had it for nearly 20 years, before I ever of became mom. I always fill the cookie jar with home baked cookies. However, my cookies ALWAYS turned out flat, crunchy, crumbly and far from what I had hoped they'd turn out to be. Y'All it was embarrassing...

Until today....

The dear Lord has blessed me, yet again, with my saving grace of chocolate chip cookie recipes. These are the BEST cookies hands down, I'll never try another chocolate chip cookie recipe again, these will be my go to for the rest of my life and I'll pass this recipe down to my children and grandchildren....and sadly I've eaten like 6 so far; they are that good. So if you like soft batch cookies, the kind of cookies where the chocolate seems to melt with each bite, then you must give these a try!

But I have to say before you try this recipe, just know for the wanna be bakers like me out there, it isn't always our fault. I follow directions to the exact, but sometimes all it takes is a tiny tweak to make it work for me. There are so many ways people make recipes with their own little secrets and they have that secret to make it taste heavenly and flawless....so just know, the recipe books are not always 100%. So please don't give up, have fun trying and learning! 

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

14 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature

{notice how its not 2 sticks...don't use the whole 2 sticks!}

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

{this is not a typo, I promise}

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour 

2 tsp flour

{again, not a typo, trust me}

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(if you are using salted butter, omit adding salt)

1 bag chocolate chips, any kind you like

Preheat your oven to 350

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy

Add eggs one at a time until well blended

Add vanilla and mix well

Add 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda and salt all at once

Mix until well blended

Add your 2 TBSP flour and mix well

Fold in your chocolate chips

Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, make a ball out of your chocolate chip cookie dough and place on your cookie sheet. Allow some room for the cookie to spread. The smaller the cookie
 (1 round tsp), the more airy and soft it'll be. The larger the cookie, the more it'll spread and you run the risk of crispy cookies!

Bake for 10 minutes, or longer if you need to. 

{all ovens vary, do what works best for you}

I hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

Happy Baking, Y'All!!!

This recipe was found and adapted from this link: 

http://www.thebakingchocolatess.com/omg-soft-batch-chocolate-chip-cookies-pure-nirvana/