Government Cookies: Peanut Butter Cookies

Cheese bull’s-eye cookies

Source: Favorite American recipes : a collection of classics from around the country
by United States. Food and Nutrition Service, Published 1974

½ cup far (margarine or butter)
1/3 cup peanut butter
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 cup cut-up or shredded cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
 

Mix fat, peanut butter, and sugar until creamy.

Stir in egg, cheese, and vanilla.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into egg mixture.

Flour hands lightly and roll dough into 1-in balls.

Place on baking pan. Press cookies flat with a fork.

Bake at 350 F (moderate oven) 12-15 minutes.
 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you need a lot of cookies? Try this recipe for 100 from the Army Quartermaster. 
Yield 100. Portion 2 Cookies

Ingredients                    Weight            Measure 
Cookie Mix, sugar           10 lb
Water                             1-5/8 lb           3 cup
Peanut butter                  2-1/2 lb           1 qts 1/2 cup
 

Method

1. Prepare sugar cookie mix according to package directions. Add water and peanut butter. Mix at low speed 1 minute. DO NOT OVERMIX.

2. Drop by slightly rounded tablespoons. Place in rows, 4 by 6, on ungreased pans; using a fork, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness, forming a crisscross pattern.

3. Using a convection oven, bake at 325 F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on high fan, open vent.

4. Loosen cookies from pans while still warm.

Filled peanut butter cookies

Source: Peanut and peanut butter recipes, USDA, 1966

1/3 cup shortening                          2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup peanut butter                       ½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup brown sugar, packed         2 ¼ cups sifted flour
1 egg                                                     Raisin or peach filling (see below)
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.

Sift dry ingredients together and stir into the first mixture. Chill.
Roll dough thin. Cut rounds with biscuit or cookie cutter, drop a spoonful of filing in center of one round and cover with another.  Press edges together.

Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 425 F. (hot oven)10 minutes.
Makes 50 2-inch cookies.

Raisin filling for cookies
¾ cup ground raisins                       1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
¼ cup sugar                                        ¼ cup finely chopped salted peanuts
 1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
 

Combine ingredients except peanuts and cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add peanuts.

Here is another big recipe- this time for school children. You can get a PDF of the whole document from the National Archives.

From the U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (225g) sugar
• 1 cup (250g) peanut butter
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Stir the ingredients together until smooth. Scoop onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. (Roll into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls with your hands, if you do not have a scoop.) Press down with the back of a fork and then press again from the opposite direction, to form the criss-cross pattern on top.
2. These cookies will not spread at all. You can bake the full recipe on a single tray if you would like. Bake for 12 minutes and then let cool on the tray for 1-2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!