I just hired a PR guy to help me promote my cookies. Here is what I am going to put on every bag of cookies I make from now on:

The Art of the Cookie

Begin with a baker’s soul. Seek the finest ingredients. Explore nature’s infinite variety of flavors and textures – crunchy, sweet, rich… oh, and chocolate.

Entertain inspirations. Embrace decadent cravings. Reward yourself. Open…Taste…Delight.

Actually, I got this off a package of Pepperidge Farms cookies someone left lying around the emergency department. Who the heck writes stuff like this?

Our son, Philip graduated in May from University of Virginia. I made three bags to give to the families of three of his classmates. These bags are the perfect color and, which the logo decals, look like they might have come right out of the UVA bookstore.

I am not a big fan of peanut butter cookies but these are good. They are quite a bit more complicated to make that “normal” peanut butter cookies so you will have to make them and decide if it is worth the effort or not. I got this recipe from our son’s mother-in-law. I had it quite a while before I got around to making it but I finally did and it was fun.

Recipe By:

Sandy

Serving Size:

24

Ingredients:

½ cup roasted salted peanuts
6 tablespoons butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup water
16 ounces all-natural creamy peanut butter
Demerara or raw sugar,  for sprinkling
Flaky sea salt , for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°. Toast peanuts on a rimmed baking sheet until browned and fragrant, 6–8 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.

2. Meanwhile, cook butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, swirling pan often, until butter foams, then browns, 4–6 minutes. Transfer brown butter with solids to a medium bow. Chill, stirring every 5 minutes, until cooled and beginning to solidify, about 15 minutes.

3.  Whisk flour, kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda in another medium bowl. Set aside.

4. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg, egg yolk, vanilla, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and ¼ cup water in a large bowl until mixture is light and falls back on itself in a slowly dissolving ribbon, about 2 minutes.

5. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients, then increase speed to high and beat 1 minute to develop gluten and hydrate flour.

6. Add peanut butter, toasted peanuts, and brown butter. Mix on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Let dough rest at room temperature until slightly firmed up, about 10 minutes.

7.  Portion dough into 2 tablespoon balls and transfer to 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, dipped in cold water, flatten cookies to ½” thick, making a crosshatch pattern on the top of each. Chill, covered, 1 hour.

8. Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; place a dry, medium skillet on the bottom rack, then increase oven temperature to 375°.

9.  Sprinkle cookies with demerara sugar and sea salt.

10. Working quickly, transfer one sheet of cookies to upper rack, then carefully pour 1 cup water into hot skillet. Water will bubble and sizzle violently. Bake cookies until browned and edges are crisp, 12–15 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat with second sheet.

Notes:

Cookie dough can be shaped and frozen 1 month ahead. Freeze in an airtight container. Let rest at room temperature 1 hour before baking.

We see a lot of methamphetamine-crazed people in our emergency department. One such guy came in the other night. He was in his twenties and was so crazy he had to be held down by multiple staff, police and medics. He was sweating profusely and his stringy hair was in his face. His heart was racing, he was thrashing and he was hollering, though the only word you could understand started with “F.”

He got our usual treatment: leather restraints on all extremities, sedatives, and a close evaluation to make sure nothing else was going on.

All such patients are assigned a “sitter.” This is a staff member who has no other responsibility than to watch the patient to make sure he is safe. When I went back a few minutes later to check on the patient, the room reeked of stinky feet and the poor sitter was stuck there, unable to leave the room. The patient’s shoes and socks were so bad, they had been taken off and sealed inside double plastic bags. I am sure that helped, but his bare feet were also very stinky so the room was no less unpleasant.

I recommended the sitter place plastic bags over the patient’s feet and tape them around his ankles. This he did, with great result in clearing up the air. I couldn’t resist the temptation to take a picture.