Peanut Butter Domes by Mangia

You achieve the domed shape of these buttery peanut butter shortbread cookies by using a small ice-cream scoop. The dough is tender and soft, and your hands won’t work nearly as well as the scoop. Purchase one at a kitchenwares store, and then you will have it when the urge to make these calls, which could be often. (The scoop should be 1 1/2 inches in diameter.) Like almost anything made with peanut butter, these are resoundingly popular.

Peanut Butter Domes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 cups smooth peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Recipe steps:

1. Position the rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Into a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, cream the butter and the brown sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and beat until the dough is smooth.
5. To shape the domes, use a small cookie scoop; pack the dough tightly into it and, with your finger, shave off any excess so that the dough is level. (You want  the bottoms of the cookies to be flat and the tops nicely rounded like a dome.) Drop the dough, by scoopfuls, onto the lined cookie sheets, leaving 1 inch between the domes. (The cookies do not spread while baking, so you can line them close to each other.)
6. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes, or until uniformly golden, turning the sheets halfway through the baking time front to back. Cool the cookies on the sheets, set on racks. Store in an airtight container.

Takes about 3 dozen cookies