Soooo many.
I think the final count was around 72... so like 6 dozen.
In hindsight, it was way too many.
But, hindsight was something not really available when I was smack in the middle of rolling out ever so much dough for these bad boys.
I did, however, learn a neat trick.
Partly why I mention it actually.
I mean, it isn't genius or anything, and I am wholly certain others have been doing this forever, but for whatever reason I only alighted upon this now.
:)
When dealing with any sort of 'butter-based' dough, keeping it chilled helps keep it firm and manageable.
And this peanut butter cookie dough is especially crumbly when warm, and part of preparing them for baking is literally rolling them between two hands, so it can warm pretty easily.
Anyway... I used to just keep 'unused' portions in the fridge, as my mother and her mother before her used to do. Which works just fine... but as I mentioned above, this particular batch was monstrous. A very large amount of dough.
Plus I got tired of going in and out of the fridge.
Anyway... I decided to put my dough bowl inside of a larger bowl filled with ice water.
It not only kept the dough SUPER cool and very firm, but it meant that I could just keep it out on the counter right next to my work space.
Not a terribly big deal to be sure, but it can definitely make a difference when you're reaching for your 72nd ball of dough.
Anyway, like I said, I'm sure others have been doing this trick, but I've never seen it or read about it myself, so this was my first time doing it.
It was nice!
It sure made baking 6 dozen cookies a little more bearable!
(oh, and the cookies, you ask? They turned out delicious... We ended up having to give some away they were too delicious.)
