Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

So everyone loves the delicious combo of chocolate and peanut butter (sorry peanut allergy-ers!), and in cookie form, that combo becomes even more irresistible. These cookies add the secret weapon of chopped peanuts to that duo to make one of my favorite recipes ever.       
                                            
PEANUTS! The secret weapon.
 

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour                                              
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (12-ounce package) semi sweet chocolate morsels
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts


-Preheat oven to 375.
-Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
-Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter in a large bowl until nice and creamy.
-Beat in egg and vanilla.
-Gradually beat in flour mixture.
-Stir in chocolate morsels and peanuts.

Can I just eat the batter please?
 -Drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets and flatten slightly with the back side of a spoon.


Gratuitous chocolate morsel shot
-Bake for 7-10 minutes or until edges are set but centers are still soft.
-Remove from oven and let stand for about 4 minutes.
-Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
-Eat the whole batch with a cold glass of milk while watching a movie (this last step is just a suggestion).



I made a batch of these for a party I went to the other night and I have never received so many compliments before! My health conscious friend Amber declared to anyone listening that they were so good, she ate two of them. I feel like the cinnamon in them really adds that little extra something and the chopped nuts give it a nice crunch not found in regular pb and chocolate cookies. I got this recipe from an old Nestle Best Loved Cookies recipe book I recently rediscovered on my bookshelf and rest assured, I'll be testing out many more of the recipes in there. Enjoy!