This recipe epiphany from Claire Discenza inspired me to start Recipephany. Here’s what she wrote:
“One day, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
became Peanut Butter Oatmeal… BREAKFAST!
And it was wonderful.
“You see, on this fateful day, the plain bowl of oatmeal led me to open the refrigerator door and poke around. No syrup. No fruit. No nuts. Nothing at all in fact. Except peanut butter, an important staple.
“Just take a spoonful of peanut butter and stir it into warm oatmeal, and I tell you, you won’t be disappointed. It has changed my life. Add peanut butter to cream of wheat, and, as far as I’m concerned, pancakes or waffles, too. Note that peanut butter can be added to all breakfast foods, except perhaps something like leftover Chinese takeout or pizza. Although, even then, there might be room for exploration.
“Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites, has several delicious-looking recipes for peanut butter pancakes. My roommate, however, just used to make one really big normal pancake, cover it with peanut butter, and eat that for breakfast. Very nice.”
Go to allrecipes.com to check out Claire’s suggestions:
Peanut Butter Pancakes
Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes
P.S. A prize-winning peanut butter recipephany, and segue to the next post
My brother Mitchell has four degrees from MIT and does some pretty brainy stuff as a consultant. But back when he was in the sixth grade in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he demonstrated his creative genius as a snack savant in a sandwich contest sponsored by Schindler’s Peanut Butter. His entry: peanut butter, provolone cheese, Worcestershire sauce, whole cherry preserves, and a dash of Tabasco sauce. It may sound odd, but it is brilliant, piling on the key ingredients we find pleasurable — fats, sugars, salt, heat, and even savory umami (in the Worcestershire sauce) all wrapped up in carbos.
This recipephany won him a $5 prize, which he calculates “is probably worth $40 to $50 today, considering that at the time gasoline was selling for about 15 cents a gallon, a new Cadillac was under $6,000, and you could buy a nice house in suburban Washington for $35,000.” It changed the way I look at food (I still find peanut butter and cheese a treat, albeit high in fat). And it inspired me to enter contests, which in turn led my mom to enter a contest — but that’s for my next post.
In the meantime, here’s the recipe for the cookie pictured above, for those not so interested in breakfast.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup margarine, softened
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 cup chunky peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Cream together shortening, margarine, sugar, molasses, vanilla and peanut butter. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the oats. Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets, allowing an inch or two for spreading. Flatten cookies slightly.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Be careful not to over-bake. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container. Makes about 30 cookies.
One Comment
Stephen
Ok, peanut butter for breakfast has always been a turn off for me. However, this oatmeal sounds interesting. In high school, the lunch ladies would sometimes make peanut butter cookies first thing, so one could have warm cookies and milk for breakfast. Since mom didn’t get out of bed til 10 am and dad stopped feeding us in the mornings by then, it was a nice treat. That’s the closest I ever came to PB in the morning. I’ll definitely have to give this one a try. Thanks!