Black Eyed Susan Cookies

In honor of my Mama on this Easter, I've made these specially for her! 


My Grandmommy called this morning and asked if I wanted to bring something sweet to our Easter picnic..."Besides me?" I asked...she laughed but didn't reply. Guess that answers that question. 


I told her I would bring something to the party and then began wracking my brain to think of something clever. I dug through several cookbooks until I spotted one that fit the bill. 


A few months ago, my hubby bought one of my favorite cookbooks-1001 Ways to Cook Southern! Sweet Heavens! This was right up my alley!


So, as I'm looking through this book, and feeling very Southern indeed, I land on the recipe for Black Eyed Susans. Since my sweet mama's name is Susan, I am instantly intrigued. After reading the recipe and noticing that it has some of her favorite things in it (chocolate, butter, sugar) I knew that this would be my contribution. 


As usual, I did a few things differently than the original recipe-you can find that one in the 1001 Ways To Cook Southern cookbook. 


Ingredients:


1/2 C softened butter


1/2 C granulated sugar


1/2 C packed brown sugar


1 C creamy peanut butter


1 large egg


1 1/2 Tbsp. warm water


1 tsp. Vanilla extract


1 1/2 C all-purpose flour


1/2 tsp. salt


1/2 tsp. baking soda


1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips




How To:


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 


Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. 


Add peanut butter, egg, and warm water. Beat them well.


In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. SLOWLY add this to the butter mixture, beating until blended. 


The cookbook calls for the use of a cookie gun, and because I don't own one of those, I poured the batter into a zip lock, cut a corner off and squeezed the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Worked just as well I think!

Place a chocolate chip (or KISS) in the center of each cookie. 


Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes or less. Move them to a wire rack to cool. 


Chill about 30 minutes. These also freeze well for up to 1 month! SWEEEET!




The Results:


These were so simple that I really thought they wouldn't be anything special...HOWEVER, they are quite delicious! I should have known that anything named after my mother would be...(my birthday's coming up y'all, give me a break!)


The cookies were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the perfect combination of salty and sweet. The chocolate on top seems like it wouldn't add very much, but it was just the right amount of chocolate so it didn't overpower the rest of the cookie. 


I ate 3 before they cooled. Not that it means anything, since I usually devour any cookies that are visible.