Recipes Per Request

Irresistible Jif Peanut Butter Cookies
-this is a recipe I got off the back of a Jif PB jar. It is delicious. You will love it I promise.

3/4 cup crunchy Jif Peanut Butter (you can use smooth, but crunchy is way better)
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/4 cups brown sugar (I substitute honey for part of the brown sugar, which makes them even softer, and a tad bit more nutritious)
3 Tb milk
1 Tb vanilla
1 egg
1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended. (I personally use a wooden spoon, not a mixer :)
3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
4. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Walnut Baklava
-I got this recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine. It is pretty good, but I would like to experiment with making thicker and fewer layers, as it is very time consuming with so many thin layers.

4 cups finely chopped walnuts (toast them first for more flavor)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tb cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted
1 package (16 ounces) frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with some of the melted butter. Unroll phyllo dough sheets (keep dough covered with plastic wrap while assembling to keep from drying out.)
Place one sheet of phyllo in baking dish; brush with butter. Top with a second sheet; brush with butter. Fold short ends under to fit the dish. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup nut mixture. Repeat 18 times, layering two sheets, brushing with butter and sprinkling with nut mixture. Top with remaining dough; brush with butter. Cut into 2 inch diamonds with a sharp knife.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the syrup ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Pour over warm baklava. Cool on a wire rack.
Yield: about 3 dozen