Trail Mix Peanut Butter Cookies — Something Sweet After a Hard Week

Justin's first full week at JBS. He is on the processing floor. Cold, wet, physically brutal. He is working it. He comes home, eats, sleeps, repeats. The irony — me starting at JBS in 1995 at 18, Justin starting there in 2025 at 17. Pattern. History. Family.

Drove Tuesday-Wednesday.

Gayle had a bad Thursday. Two hours of labored breathing. She recovered. But it was a long scare.

Sunday: pot roast.

Sunday started with pot roast in the slow cooker and ended with these cookies. I needed to do something with my hands after the week we’d had — Justin grinding through those first brutal days on the floor, Gayle giving us that long Thursday scare. Baking is how I settle myself. Trail mix cookies felt right: a little bit of everything thrown together, a little rugged, somehow still sweet.

Trail Mix Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups trail mix (your choice — nuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, M&Ms, sunflower seeds)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add wet ingredients. Mix in peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until fully combined and smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients. Stir in baking soda and salt, then gradually mix in the flour until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in trail mix. Gently fold in the trail mix, distributing the nuts, fruit, and chocolate evenly throughout the dough.
6. Portion the cookies. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
7. Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the centers look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
8. Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 178 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 118mg