Toddlers don't roll cookie dough into balls and other facts of cooking.

One thing I’ve learned about all of you, Dear Readers, is - You LOVE good recipes. So, while I was baking a batch of homemade cookies to pack as “car nibbles” for our road trip this week, I thought I’d share the recipe with you and tell you a cute tale about cookie baking from back in my really naïve days!

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Obviously, this isn't one of the nephews. She is, however, one of the nieces and she IS baking. What can I say? It's the closest I could come for illustration purposes using my picture files.

When two of my nephews (We’ll just call them “Li’l Kid” and “Toddler“) were little (and I was somewhat inexperienced at cooking with kids), I was watching them one day when I decided to bake some peanut butter cookies with them. It seemed like a good idea at the time ! In, literally, hundreds of hours of babysitting in my youth, I guess I’d never tried to bake cookies with any of the toddlers along the way.

The first thing I learned that day was that children under two years of age definitely have trouble with the concept of rolling a ball of dough between their hands. After squashing that ball of dough between his palms like a vice, “Toddler” then made fists, causing the dough to ooze between his fingers. (He was actually enjoying this.) His next move was to attempt to wipe the dough off - in his hair, his clothes, on the furniture, the rug, etc. After squirting him down, that little munchkin went down for a nap! I decided “Li’l Kid” and I would continue without him.

At the ripe old age of four, “Li’l Kid” had rolling these balls down to an art in no time. I did, however, learn four-year-olds don’t comprehend gently pressing the fork into the cookie to create the criss-cross design. His efforts resembled a stab or a jab or, actually, were more like a steamroller. Those were some ugly and lop-sided cookies !!

At the end of the day, they were proud to show Mommy and Daddy the cookies they made regardless of how unappetizing they looked!

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RICH & CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Assuming you all have accomplished rolling dough to form balls and can gently press with a fork, you should have no trouble at all making these.

The thicker the cookie, the softer the cookies will be.

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda, in Tbsp. boiling water
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour

Cream sugar and butter. Add vanilla, peanut butter and eggs, blending well. Stir in baking soda. Mix dry ingredients and add gradually, mixing well. Scoop out by teaspoonful and shape into ball. Place on cookie sheet and flatten in criss-cross pattern with tines of a fork dipped repeatedly in granulated sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350°.

Makes 4 dozen.

Store in tightly covered container. Can be frozen up to 3 months. (But I seriously doubt they’ll even make it into the freezer!)

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Well, I hope y'all enjoy your cookies as much as I'm enjoying my vacation!