I’ve been gone for awhile if you haven’t noticed. And it was while teetering on the roof, contemplating whether it was worth it to end everything over a computer crash, that I knew it was time for my all time comfort snack — peanut butter cookies — to bring me back to sanity. Of course, now that I’m an online cooking maven (at least in my own mind) I had to make them with a twist. Enter the interesting and noticeable change that occurred when I added Rice Krispies and a snippet of coffee.

It’s an old recipe, visible now on pages that have become a bit brown, but my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book is a stalwart part of my kitchen so I don’t quibble about its age. Nor do I talk about what’s aging on me. I’d rather just pour cold milk over ice and think about it without seriousness, after cookie number 7.

Here’s all I did. I used this recipe (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/classic-peanut-butter-cookies/) and added 1/2 C rice krispies at the end, and used about 2 T less flour. Plus, I put 1 T of cold coffee in the batter. Then I did a thumb imprint on the cookie instead of the fork tine lattice pattern, and sprinkled raw sugar crystals generously in the center. The result was interesting. More of a complex mouth-feel to the cookie with a bit of lightness, and the sugar, caramelized just slightly, giving a slight toffee chew.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t reinvent, but I certainly IN-vented something new. Why don’t you take your favorite cookie for a test drive and see what happens when you experiment? Better than jumping, cause if I can cook at least I won’t ever starve!