So, Are We Supposed To Call It Legume Butter?

Did you know that America’s favorite nut is not a nut, but a legume like peas and beans?

Peanuts are called nuts, no doubt, because they look like nuts and are served and eaten like nuts.

Like most Americans, I’ve been eating and enjoying peanut products most of my life: roasted in the shell, salted with cocktails, covered with chocolate, in candy bars and peanut brittle, as peanut butter and as peanut oil for frying. One of my favorite snacks is a crunchy croquette, spread with a thick swirl of peanut butter and topped with bright sour cherry preserves.

Learning that peanuts are not actually nuts certainly doesn’t make them one bit less attractive to me. And I wouldn’t have thought it possible to love them more than I already did, either.

But after a visit deep in south Georgia peanut country, I have to admit that there is something about actually seeing peanuts growing in the field, tasting a freshly harvested raw peanut, watching the harvest and all stages of production, and meeting the farmers and processors who are so passionate about their product, that further endeared them to me.

Freshly harvested, raw peanuts have a beautiful lavender skin and taste somewhat akin to fresh peas, with that sweet, fresh-cut grass, springtime kind of quality.

Another unusual experience was tasting boiled peanuts - a Southern specialty, which people either love or hate. Raw, immature peanuts are boiled in the shell in brine, sometimes with the addition of a ham hock. The flavor and texture are reminiscent of garbanzo beans, a strangely addictive combination of soft and salty. I loved them at first bite.

I was fascinated to discover that peanuts are the only legumes that flower above ground yet grow below. The peanut plant resembles clover with long, oval leaves. It reaches a height of about 18 inches and has little yellow flowers that selfpollinate. The flowers fall off leaving an embryo at the tip of a long stem, which gravity pulls down to about 4 inches underground. That’s where the peanut develops.

Here’s one of my favorite ways to use peanuts. This recipe produces moist, chewy and very peanutty cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookies:

1 cup bleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup smooth peanut butter (preferably Jif)

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Milk chocolate topping:

6 ounces milk chocolate

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cherry preserves topping:

1-1/2 (12-ounce) jars cherry preserves

Place 2 oven racks in upper and lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees at least 15 minutes before baking.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt into small bowl. Whisk to combine well. Set aside.

Beat sugars in mixing bowl until well mixed. Add butter and peanut butter and beat several minutes until very smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated, scraping sides of bowl.

Gradually beat in flour mixture at low speed until just incorporated. Scrape dough into bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Measure dough by using 1-1/4-inch cookie scoop or 2 level teaspoons and roll between palms to form 1-inch balls. Place balls 1-1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. As soon as each ball is rolled, use index finger or wooden spoon handle to make a depression going down almost to baking sheet in center of each ball.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned and set. For even baking, rotate baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking period.

Cool cookies on sheets for a few minutes or until firm enough to lift. Use a small metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. If necessary, while cookies are still hot, use greased wooden spoon handle to deepen depressions. When cool, fill with milk chocolate topping or cherry preserves.

To prepare chocolate topping, melt chocolate in upper container of double boiler set over hot (not simmering) water on low heat or microwave on High power (100 percent), stirring every 10 seconds. Remove upper container from heat before chocolate is fully melted and stir until blended. Whisk in the softened butter. Mixture will thicken immediately; do not overwhisk.

Use resealable quart-size freezer bag with 1 corner cut off to pipe chocolate into cookie centers, or spread with a small metal spatula. Allow chocolate to set until firm before storing cookies in airtight containers.

To prepare cherry preserves topping, in microwave oven or saucepan, heat preserves until boiling (about 3 minutes on the stove), stirring constantly. Strain jelly into small heavy saucepan. Place cherries that remain in strainer in centers of cookies.

Boil jelly over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until, when dropped from spoon, last drops gather to form 1 large sticky drop that hangs from spoon. Jelly will reduce to about 3/4 cup. Allow jelly to cool about 1 minute or until bubbling stops. Spoon heaping 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon over each cherry.

To store, cookies filled with chocolate can be stacked in airtight containers at room temperature. Cookies with cherry centers need to be placed in single layers in airtight containers and stored at room temperature.

Yield: About 5 dozen (1-3/4-inch) cookies.