Cupboard Love

 

Did 2010 make you feel like curling up with a plate of something warm and soft? You weren’t alone. Allrecipes.com just released its top recipes for last year and the list includes  such comfort food staples as brownies, twice-baked potatoes and pulled pork. According to Allrecipes, the list was compiled by analyzing data from 535 million visits and more than 3 billion page views.

In case you’re wondering, that’s just a teensy bit more traffic than Vinecdote gets. (Click more, friends!) And I can’t help wondering how many of those billions of page views translated into food on the table. I can’t count the number of times I’ve started out with the best of intentions and found my interest flagging round about the time when I got to the instruction to take out a third bowl or pan or _ and this is a guaranteed dealbreaker _ “let sit overnight in a cool place.”This is why I’m a fan of food processor desserts. Sifting, stirring, whipping? No. But even at my lowest I can just about manage to measure ingredients into a bowl, push a button and then decant the contents into the oven.Some of my efforts to process my way to quicker sweets have proved unrewarding. It appears chocolate cake can be made this way, but not well. Although I have not entirely given up on that. But the other night I gave peanut butter cookies a whirl and they turned out great. This is real American comfort food (and I say that as a British immigrant) and really very easy.To wit:

EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (recipe adapted from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into chunks
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy because I hate creamy)
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two baking sheets. Put ingredients in food processor. Process until combined. Form dough into balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with back of fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes. After the first 5 minutes or so, watch them like a hawk because, like all cookies, they go from blonde and raw to brown and burned in about 15 seconds.Curious about what home cooks were making, or at least thinking about making in 2011? Here’s the list from Allrecipes.Top Recipes of 2010

Hmm, I wonder how brownies would work out in the food processor?Bon appetit!