I’ve had peanut butter on my mind lately. I’ve mixed it through my oatmeal and used it in these granola bars. That is not even to count the times in between I’ve it spread on a slice of warm toast to accompany some tea. I love its comforting familiarity…its unfancy goodness. Peanut butter…really…sometimes one need not look far afield for gastronomic treasures.
I was chatting online with my friend M (lovely M of the Moomin chopsticks) and she mentioned that she had made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and everyone at her workplace loved it. Just take your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and add chocolate chips she said. Shamefully, I had no such favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.
That had to change.
Flush in peanut butter love, I searched the web for a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is what I came across. I’m so glad I did.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from Canary Girl)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Cream butter and both sugars until creamy, then add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add the peanut butter and continue to beat until combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine.
- Add chips and stir again.
- Drop small spoonfuls of dough onto parchment (you should get a dozen per sheet).
- Bake in a pre-heated 375F oven on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let them rest on the cookie sheet for one minute before removing to cool on a wire rack. Do not over-bake them. They may seem a little underdone but they will continue to cook outside the oven.
As you can imagine, peanut butter being so well loved, a marriage between it and chocolate chips would most likely be exponentially wonderful. It is. There are a lot of recipes out there but what I like about this one, aside from it's deliciousness, is its simplicity. It is a snap to make and yields so much more than the efforts you put in. I recommend you have them freshly baked when they are still soft and warm at their centers, and a glass of cold milk alongside is all you need to reach some sort of childhood-food nirvana. Like Reese’s peanut butter cups in cookie form. They are still good the following days although a bit crisper around the edges. I used sweet & creamy peanut butter and I think this made my batch a tad too sweet. I’ll stick with regular creamy next time. You can use any type of peanut butter you prefer, so if you like crunchy go ahead and use that. I am a strictly creamy peanut butter girl :)
I’m wondering if I may soon reach the end of my peanut butter rope. Will I wake up one day to find I’ve tired of my old friend? I sincerely hope not! It’s such a dependable pick-me-up and never fails to improve my disposition. Whoever said you can’t buy happiness was in looking in the wrong jar ;)