Odd question

On Fri 03 Jun 2005 09:57:43p, Maddie wrote in rec.food.baking:

I don't know when peanut butter cookies originated, but I suspect early 20th century. Given that, I believe the idea of using fork marks to flatten down a small ball of dough has an earlier history. In our family recipes there is a cookie recipe handwritten by my great grandmother in 1894 for a German spice cookie. The recipe has the same instructions.

You got my curiosity up so I did a search for myself. Lo and behold on

I found the answer.Most recipes for peanut butter cookies call the the dough to be mixed with afork, and made into balls that are then flattened with the fork.My guess is that the practice just evolved from the nature of the dough, andthat the easiest way to make the cookies was to roll the dough into ballsand flatten the balls with the fork, leaving fork marks. The criss-crosswould follow because it is a little creative and artistic.Also, consider that peanut allergies are fairly common, and the distinctivemarkings make peanut butter cookies easily identifiable, giving furtherreason for the tradition to be continued.

Rusty

To flatten them so they bake more evenly. Some older recipes call for flattening with the bottom of a cup or glass.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

Hmmmm....I have no idea.

I actually skip this step. They flatten out fine and taste the same.

marcella lazy

I do mine with a jelly jar dipped in sugar.

The Fine Art of Cooking involves personal choice. Many preferences, ingredients, and procedures may not be consistent with what you know to be true. As with any recipe, you may find your personal intervention will be necessary. Bon Appetit!

Just for simple decoration, I suppose.....

X-No-archive: yes

Thanks to Wayne Boatwright, Rusty, Jenn Ridley, Ida Slapter, Marcella Peek, and Roy for your input!

The explanation that made the most sense to me was using the fork to flatten the balls of cookie dough before baking...and then that evolved into a way to mark peanut butter cookies from others in case people had peanut allergies.

I really appreciate you all taking the time to answer my strange question =)

Best regards!

A practical matter is that with some peanut butter recipes the dough is very sticky.

A fork used to press the dough can be removed with a sliding motion without needing extra flour or oil to keep it from sticking.

Try flattening peanut butter cookies with the bottom of a glass and be prepared to scrape dough every time.

regards

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 05:20:08p, wrote in rec.food.baking:

Yes, you right. I did find another way that I tried a couple of times, which was to roll the ball of dough in granulated sugar and then flatten with the bottom of a glass. It worked fine, but they just didn't seem like peanut butter cookies. :-)

On Sun 05 Jun 2005 12:36:01p, Maddie wrote in rec.food.baking:

Not an odd question at all, Maddie.

Because my momma did it that way.

Good enough reason for me...

Ed