Baking The Book: Peanut Butter Blossoms

I suddenly realized that summer is almost here. I was sitting in my garden last night at seven, and it hit me. It was still light outside. What??? I swear that only a few days ago the sun was dipping under the horizon in the late afternoon and would refuse to rise until well into the morning. Getting out of bed was pretty difficult.

Now, my favorite pastime, napping, is looking a little less appealing. Forget the fact that the sun is pretty unforgiving in shining through my window, leaving my room awfully bright. I'm just so excited to be outside. Don't get me wrong, it's not warm here yet. But mark my words- if the temperature rises even a few more degrees, we'll all have a hard time dragging ourselves back inside.

So, I say make some cookies, pack a picnic, and enjoy the sun.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Makes about 20 cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 egg at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Granulated sugar, for rolling
Chocolate, for pressing into cookies

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, beat together peanut butter and egg. Add brown sugar, baking powder, and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet and press fork into each ball of dough to create a cross-hatch pattern. Press one piece of chocolate into each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and firm to touch. Let cool on a wire rack.