Classic Peanut Butter Cookies - King Arthur Flour - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 -3 tablespoons water

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0F Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
Beat together the shortening, sugars, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter until smooth.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the peanut-butter mixture, beating gently until everything is well combined. Add enough water to make a cohesive dough.
Drop the cookie dough by tablepoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here), leaving 2\" between them.
Use a fork to flatten each cookie to about 1/2\" thick, making a cross-hatch design.
Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're barely beginning to brown around the edges; the tops won't have browned. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.