Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies (AKA Copy Cat Doug's Moon Cakes)

***This week I had a random craving for an oatmeal and peanut butter combo cookie so I searched the web a bit until I found one I thought might be decent. Today when I mentioned it to Jack, he said his Dad made oatmeal peanut butter cookies a few times when he was young and called them "Moon Cakes." This stuck out to me for a few reasons. First, I've never seen my father-in-law cook anything except for scrambled eggs. I'm sure he CAN cook, I've just never really seen it. So I was intrigued that he felt motivated enough to make this recipe. Second, I thought the name "Moon Cakes" sounded pretty cool. I googled it, hoping for an awesome cookie recipe and instead found thousands of recipes for a Chinese bakery product. I imagined our posterity reading through a Harvey Recipebox Cookbook some day and having the mental image of Doug Harvey as being someone who baked Chinese treats for his kids. I literally laughed out loud. I still am actually.

Jack said his Dad made these cookies a couple of times but that despite his kids' requests for it afterward, he never made them again. I felt like I owed it to Jack to recreate something that could fill this decades-old-hankering. Or maybe my week-old-craving. Either way, here they are:

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Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

(AKA Copy Cat Doug's "Moon Cakes")

Ingredients

1 C peanut butter (chunky or creamy)

1 C butter

1 C granulated sugar

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

2 C quick-cooking oats

2 C all purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

¼ t salt

1- 12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips, if desired

1.       Heat oven to 350 degrees.

3.       Beat peanut butter and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sugars, eggs, & vanilla until blended.

4.       In a medium bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat flour mixture into peanut butter mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, if desired.

5.       Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 11-13 minutes.

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars (No Bake!)

***These are one of my absolute FAVORITE desserts. I think I actually like them better than the real thing! They are super easy to whip up and always draw compliments. I brought these one time to a Relief Society presidency meeting at my friend Marcia Storm's house, and she just about fell over when she tried them. She begged me for the recipe and still talks about them to this day.***

No Bake Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 lb (3 1/2 C) powdered sugar
1 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1 C (2 sticks) real butter, melted
1 12oz bag chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark, you pick!)
2 tsp peanut butter

In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and peanut butter and butter and beat until combined.  Press into a parchment (or waxed paper or foil) lined 9×13 pan.

Place chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until melted and smooth.  Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture and spread out evenly.  Place pan in the fridge just until chocolate is set and then cut into bars.  

Tip:  If the bars chill until the chocolate is too hard to easily cut, use a sharp knife and score the cuts first, then gently cut through.  Can be stored in the fridge or at room temp.  They will stay firmer if stored in the fridge.