A Taste From My Childhood: Chocolate Butterflies

Have you ever noticed that certain tastes can bring back memories or remind you of people? Warm crusty buns with melted butter remind me of one Grandma’s house while a Brach chocolate star tastes just like the other Grandma’s. And these cookies, Chocolate Butterflies, taste like home.

These are my mom’s signature cookie. If she needed to bring treats somewhere, these would be the cookies she made. They were one of the first things I learned to bake and I even brought them to the County Fair!

My daughter made them herself this week using my well-stained handwritten recipe from 7th grade. She asked why they were called Chocolate Butterflies and I had no answer! Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies would be a more accurate name, but it isn’t quite as poetic!

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Butterflies

Cream together: 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup butter or shortening, 1 1/3 cup sugar.

Add: 2 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Add: 2 cups flour, 2/3 cup cocoa, 2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/3 cup milk.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheets. Press down with a fork to make crosshatch designs on the top of each cookie. Bake 400 degrees for 4-6 minutes or until the top is set and not shiny.

The milk gives them a more cake-like texture and they freeze very well. I really can’t tell you how many the recipe makes because we always eat so much dough while we are setting them out. Someday though, I will use extreme self-control and make an entire recipe without snitching so I can get a good count, but don’t hold your breath, that could be a while!