On Former Classmates and Peanut Butter Cookies

It’s an all too brief moment during the busy holiday baking season I get to rest for a few moments and contemplate life. But this wonderful moment did happen for me last week when an old friend from high school friended me on facebook. On my wall, Mari wrote, “Connie, I learned to make peanut butter cookies with correct fork impressions in your parent’s home on a Girl Scout sleep over. How appropriate that you have turned baking into a profession.” It’s amazing to me that Mari remembers those sweet days; I surely do as that is when I began my love for baking cookies.
Mari’s post got me thinking about those fork impressions too. Why is a criss-cross the traditional way to “garnish” peanut butter cookies? I did some searching on the internet and here is what I found out.
The first cookbook with a peanut butter cookie recipe came from Ruth Wakefield’s Tollhouse in 1936. (if you don’t know who Ruth Wakefield is, she invented the chocolate chip cookie) It seems like we’ve been making peanut butter cookies for a long time…almost 75 years, in fact. And the thought behind the marks? Well, there are a few conjectures here. Some think the criss-cross is a warning. Others think it has religious undertones, both good or evil! Still others think it is to mark the cookies so you know they are peanut butter cookies. Since some people have allergies to nuts this would be a good warning sign as to the peanut ingredients.
It seems that early on, recipes began to tell bakers to make a criss-cross pattern on the cookies. People also refer to them as hatch marks. The recipe didn’t tell them why, they just followed the recipe! Over the years, bakers have come to their own conclusions. One such explanation is that it flattens the dough and thus makes the cookies crispier. Another reasonable explanation is that it flattens the dough so it can bake more evenly. Personally, I favor this explanation. Some believe that flattening the dough actually helps keep the cookie dough together and uniform. Otherwise, it may just crumble apart while baking. I’m not so sure about this explanation. I’ve never had a peanut butter cookie fall apart. The dough is pretty sticky!   Could it be that all this conjecture is for naught? Perhaps it is just a garnish for the cookie with no significance afterall. It’s just a simple way to dress up the cookie and invite you to take a delicious bite!
Thank you, Mari, for sharing your memory. It is sweet and it gave me the opportunity to learn about the possible origin of the criss-cross pattern on peanut butter cookies.
Do you have any thoughts on the criss-cross pattern?  Please share them!