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23 steps

1. 1

   Not only are the baked goods unoriginal, there is a veritable family tree of bakeries simply stealing their former employer’s recipes and shop look-feel.

2. 2

   Together, [Jennifer] Appel and a high-school friend, Allysa Torey, begat Magnolia Bakery in 1996.

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   When their partnership, and friendship, dissolved in 1999, Magnolia begat Buttercup.

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   In 2003, Magnolia begat Billy’s, a bakery in Chelsea, opened by a former Magnolia manager, and Buttercup begat Sugar Sweet Sunshine, started by two former Buttercup employees.

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   Now there are at least a half-dozen similar bakeries throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, with such jolly names as Baked, Happy Happy Happy, Polka Dot Cake Studio, and Cupcake Caboose (an all-cupcake catering company), each serving up cupcakes topped with dollops of sugary frosting swirled artfully like beehive hairdos.

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   A quick skim of the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook confirmed these suspicions.

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   A quick batch of these allowed me to–at last–fulfill my promise of this recipe to you, and fill our bellies with so much peanut butter, it may have been safer when we had to wait on line to get one.

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   The brilliance of these cookies is that they have include two different formats for peanuts–three if you use chunky peanut butter.

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   They’re crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside.

10. 10

    Bake a batch and then hide the results in the furthest and most forgettable reaches of your kitchen. You’ll thank me later.

11. 11

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

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    In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy.

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    Add the sugars and beat until smooth.

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    Add the egg and mix well.

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    Add the milk and the vanilla extract.

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    Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly.

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    Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

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    Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate.

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    Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion.

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    Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern (I used the back of a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies.

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    Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake.

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    Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

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    Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.