Peanut butter cookies had to have been the first thing my mom taught me how to bake. They are so simple to put together, make a minimum amount of mess and are made with things we had in our kitchen at all times. Namely, peanut butter.

Let’s take a second here and talk about peanut butter.

I feel very comfortable saying that for about a hundred years now most Americans have grown up with peanut butter in their kitchen. We love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I didn’t think this was a controversial thing. But when I moved to the UK I found out that, apparently, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are An American Thing.

Furthermore, some people in this country think they are gross. I need a second here to get my breath back. What? Not everyone on the planet grew up eating this culinary delight? SO SAD FOR THEM. Have they also never had a casserole?

When Syabira made essentially a peanut butter and jelly bake this season on The Great British Bake Off both Paul and Prue scoffed at the idea which makes me alternately a little angry and suddenly dubious of their qualifications. Well, Dr. Syabira Yusoff went on to win the competition which I clearly now will never do given I’ve just disparaged the judges.

So, for those who didn’t grow up eating peanut butter and aren’t familiar with it’s incredible curative properties in both sweet and savory dishes I encourage you to start here with your exploration. These cookies have a texture like shortbread and have just enough peanut butter flavor to please even beginners. I don’t have any interest in starting an international incident but I will say that when one of the British citizens in this house ate his first ever peanut butter cookie he said it would be even better with some raspberry jam. I think my work here is done.