The Herd Waits for Santa: Vanilla Salted Peanut Cookies

A very merry everything from all of us here at Clio & Phin, where the herd is somewhat patiently awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas!

I know. Santa wears a suit, not a cape.  I tried to tell Dragon this, but he made a compelling case that Santa is, in fact, a superhero. Since I've never seen Santa, who was I to argue? Maybe he does wear a cape for dashing across rooftops.

Cookies for Santa.

Dragon has been asking for me to make him a Santa costume since Thanksgiving so he could have adventures with Milkshake the Elf and a herd of reindeer elephants. So, I whipped up some antlers from craft felt and an online template that I shrunk down to Trample Herd size. The Santa and Elf hats are made from scraps of fabric with trim that I knit from faux fur yarn. 

Reindeer Elephant

Anyway, since the real Santa comes tonight, I thought we'd share our cookie recipe. This is from The Baking Sheet, which is a bakers' newsletter put out by King Arthur Flour. Let me tell you: this cookie is right on!  It's rather unique - loaded with vanilla and complimented by peanuts, white chocolate chips and oatmeal. These flavors really go together better than you'd ever guess.

Good enough to get us on the nice list?

Vanilla Salted Peanut Cookies from KAF's Baking Sheet
1/2c butter (4oz, 1 stick)
1/4c veg shortening (1 3/4 oz)
2c brown sugar (15 oz)
2c old-fashioned rolled oats (7oz)
2 large eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract (1oz)
1 tsp baking soda
2c AP flour (8 1/2 oz)
1 1/4c salted peanuts (6 1/4oz)
1 1/3c  white chocolate chips (8oz)

Cream shortening, butter and brown sugar. Mix in the oats, eggs and vanilla. Whisk flour and baking soda and add to butter/oat mixture, stopping to scrape bowl. Mix in peanuts and chips. Scoop by tbsp onto parchment lined or greased baking sheets and bake at 350 for 11-13min until golden at edges. Cool on pan for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 4 1/2 dozen. 

I've never really been into white chocolate, but this chewy cookie breaks the mold. The only thing I might do differently in future batches is replace the shortening with butter. It would mean the cookies would spread more, but I like the flavor and texture of all-butter cookies better than shortening. 

Waiting for Santa

Now if I could just get the herd to go to bed. Like all overexcited children on Christmas Eve, they are determined to wait for Santa.

Merry and Bright to you and yours!