PEANUT BUTTER COCONUT KRISPIE COOKIES, adapted

This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation. Cookie Madness adapted "Back to School Cookies" from an old issue of Taste of Home magazine. And I was searching for a recipe that would use up some of the peanut butter, coconut, oats and Rice Krispies in my pantry. The changes I made were to use what I had on hand rather than purchase new ingredients, but I did add cinnamon and creme de cocoa because the recipe looked like it needed some additional flavor. If I make these again, I'll add even more flavoring and the new amounts are noted below. (I wonder how they would taste with some cayenne pepper. hmmm.) I really, really liked these cookies. The texture is very different -- very crispy on the edges, with a nice crunch all the way through. I rate these an 8 out of 10 and would definitely make them again (that is, if I ever run out of new peanut butter cookie recipes; I have 8 waiting in the wings). The other matter worth mentioning is peanut butter brands. I'm not really into sweetened peanut butter. I use natural peanut butter, except when I bake cookies. Anna of Cookie Madness says she has tested Jif against other brands, and Jif always comes up the winner for taste. My cookies were made with the remainder of a jar of Skippy crunchy and some Jif creamy. One last note: No need to get the mixer out for these -- I've found that better results are obtained when cookie batters are mixed by hand, using a whisk and/or spatula.

Peanut Butter Coconut Krispie Cookies, half recipe, adapted
Rating: 8 out of 10
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup self-rising flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 +1/8 tsp. sea salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter + 2 Tbsp. Crisco (both softened)
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used part crunchy to empty a container, then part smooth)
1 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup white sugar+2 tsp. molasses+1-1/2 tsp. stevia)
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. creme de cocoa (or strong coffee or chocolate syrup)
1 cup crisp rice cereal
3/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup quick oats

Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small mixing bowl; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the softened butter and shortening with the peanut butter and brown sugar until throughly combined and smooth. Add egg and flavorings and whisk again till very smooth. Stir in flour mixture with spatula, then the remaining ingredients.

Drop by generously rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart onto ungreased baking sheets. (I lined mine with parchment paper.) A small cookie scoop is perfect for this.
Flatten the dough balls with a fork, forming a criscoss pattern.
Bake 9-12 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs and how big you make your dough balls. I used a toothpick inserted in center to test for doneness, just like for a cake. Two of my batches took 11 minutes, and one batch took 12 minutes. The batch that took 12 minutes had slightly larger cookies. My yield on the half batch was 40 cookies.

Here's the recipe as adapted by Cookie Madness:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt (original recipe had none)
8 oz butter flavored shortening
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1-1/2 cups chopped nuts or 1 ¼ cup chopped peanuts
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.Cream the shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg whites and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until mixed, then stir in the cereal, nuts, coconut and oats.
Drop by generously rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork, forming a crisscross pattern. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks.
Makes about 8 dozen