Better Than Mom's

From the February 9th page of the Cookie Calendar. I'll confess that the crumbly dough created some doubt as to the outcome. Not to worry. I've never seen a batch of cookies eaten up so quickly.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 (1 stick) sweet butter
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup unrefined light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup (8 oz.) crunchy peanut butter
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional; but not in this house)

Directions
Sift the flour and baking soda together. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugars until soft and creamy. Combine the egg, flour mixture, peanut butter, and salt. Add the butter and sugar mixture and mix until smooth.

Wrap the dough in foil or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. (Sorry, no instant gratification here. I took the overnight advice.)

Shape the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten slightly (very gently) with a fork. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden. (Our oven required 22 minutes to reach a golden state.)

Remove from oven (yeah, this is what the recipe advises) and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. (They won't last that long, believe me! Not unless you make a quadruple batch.)