NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DAY

NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DAY June 12

We are baking up some goodness on June 12 for National Peanut Butter Cookie Day! This delicious food holiday allows cookie lovers and peanut butter lovers to step away from the pies and cakes to indulge in a little peanut butter and cookie therapy.

#NationalPeanutButterCookieDay

Alabama's American agricultural extension educator, George Washington Carver, promoted the peanut extensively. Well-known for his promotions, Carver compiled 105 peanut recipes from various cookbooks, agricultural bulletins, and other sources. In 1916, he created a Research Bulletin called How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption. The bulletin included three recipes calling for crushed or chopped peanuts as one of its ingredients. However, peanut butter cookies were not one of them.

It was in the early 1920s peanut butter began to be listed as an ingredient in cookies. 

Incidentally, the peanut butter we know and love today didn't become commercially available until the 1920s. In 1922, Joseph Rosefield kept the peanut oil from separating from the solids through this process. Afterward, he patented the process of homogenization and sold it to a company that began making a peanut butter called Peter Pan.

No one knows why we press criss-crossed fork marks into our peanut butter cookies before baking. However, homemade peanut butter cookies would just not be the same without a bit of decoration.

The best way to celebrate this cookie holiday is with some homemade peanut butter cookies, a glass of milk, and a friend. If you don't feel like baking in the summer heat, visit your favorite baker and grab a dozen. Don't forget to give them a shout-out and let them know how much you appreciate their mad cookie baking skills! Of course, we even have a recipes for you to try, too.

Share your peanut butter cookie recipe on social media using the hashtag #NationalPeanutButterCookieDay.

National Day Calendar is researching the origins of this delicious peanut cookie holiday. In the meantime, check out these other peanut-related holidays.