The bad news hit newspapers throughout the country last week and it’s no small peanuts (sorry).
Once again the strange weather patterns that have plagued various regions for months are now being blamed for a peanut shortage.
Normally, I wouldn’t give that much thought, because I seldom buy peanuts in their actual peanut form. But when I then read that the peanut shortage would inevitably drive up the price of peanut butter, well, that definitely caught my attention.
Is there a home anywhere in the land that doesn’t have a jar of peanut butter on the shelf, unless, of course, someone in the family has the troublesome peanut allergy problem, which must be dreadful.
Peanut butter is a staple, one of the food necessities, consumed by children as well as adults, carried to both school and work by millions of us. It’s the fall-back food when moms are rushed and desperate; it’s comfort food when we’re feeling out of sorts; it’s a meal a kid can fix for himself when he’s home alone; and that familiar jar filled with thick, tan, peanuty goo is a mute signal that no matter what’s going wrong, some things can be counted on; good old peanut butter.
Having said all that, there is one small problem with peanut butter, however, and that is the price for that jar of goodness.
I happen to think peanut butter is already a bit pricey, especially when I think of what I was paying for it only 10 years or so ago. As with so many items in the supermarket, the price of peanut butter has been steadily climbing a bit almost every year. Now, however, we’re told that there could be as much as a 30-percent increase, soon, because of the peanut shortage.
“The J.M. Smucker Co., which makes Jif peanut butter, plans to raise its wholesale prices 30 percent in November. Kraft Foods, which launched its Planters peanut butter in June, is raising prices 40 percent
Oct. 31.” (Associated Press)
Thirty percent is not an insubstantial amount. A 28 oz. jar of Jif or Skippy would rise by more than a dollar and a half, bringing it to more than $7 in most supermarkets. Yes, it will be less at Costco, Walmart, Fred Meyer and such, but we who live on the island, especially on the South End, will have to add travel costs to the price of our jar of peanut butter if we drive to Oak harbor or cross the pond. For many struggling families who rely on such things as peanut butter to help stretch the food budget, a 30- to 40-percent jump in the cost is unacceptable.
According to the Department of Agriculture, U.S. farmers are expected to produce about 1.8 million tons of peanuts this year, which is “down nearly 13 percent from last year.” Thirteen percent fewer peanuts; 30- to 40-percent increase in the price of peanut butter?
If the weather cooperates and next year’s peanut crop is the biggest on record, will “they” jump at the chance to lower the price of peanut butter as quickly as they’re leaping at the opportunity to kick it up considerably?
Oh, sure.
RECIPES
There are so many, many ways to use peanut butter besides PB&J sandwiches, but as we’re getting closer to Halloween, let’s do recipes for peanut butter goodies that can be handed out as treats or used for a Halloween party.
These won’t work, however, if you’re among those islanders who typically have more than a hundred little trick-or-treaters, in which case you can just save these for your own family.
PEANUT BUTTER FINGERS
1 cup butter softened
1½ cups packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1½ cups creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups quick cooking oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Chocolate frosting
6 tablespoons butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. vanilla extract
6 to 8 tablespoons milk
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add one cup of the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla; mix well.
Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture, mixing well.
Spread into 15×10-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 13-17 min. or until golden brown. Cool slightly on a wire wrack, about 12 min. Spread with remaining peanut butter. Cool completely.
To make frosting: In a mixing bowl, combine the butter confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading constantly. Spoon over peanut butter layer then spread. Cut into about 3 dozen bars.
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE CHUNKS
1½ cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup, packed, golden brown sugar
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temp.
¼ cup honey
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
5 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about ½ hr.
Preheat oven to 350. Butter 2 baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping T. of dough for each cookie into 1¾-inch balls. Arrange on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2½ inch apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 min. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 min. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.
And finally, here’s another way to have your peanut butter and jelly; your kids will love these, if the adults don’t get them first.
PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY COOKIES
1 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ t. baking soda
1/8 t. (or “pinch”) fine sea salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temp. and cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar, divided (see instructions)
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla
¼ cup blackberry jelly (or jelly/jam of your preference)
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer using paddle attachment, beat together the butter, peanut butter, ¾ cup of the sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; mix until blended. With mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture until well incorporated.
Put remaining sugar in a small bowl. Form dough into balls (about ¼ cup each) and roll in the sugar. Arrange on cookie sheets spaced evenly about 2½ inches apart (they will spread). Using a round ¼ t. measuring spoon or the tip of the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole in each ball about ½ to ¾ inch deep. Spoon 1 t. of jelly into the holes. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven 11-14 min., or until cookies have spread and surface appears crackled. Allow to cool on sheets for 5 min., then transfer to rack to complete cooling.
Margaret Walton can be reached at falwalcal@msn.com.
