As the school year has started, I’ve been baking up a storm and am loving it! I’m hoping to come out with a book review in a week or so but I’m finishing up a monster of a book that I’ve been reading intermittently since April! While I finish that up, I thought I could distract you all with yet another delicious cookie recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour. Now, for my friends out there who are allergic to nuts, this recipe may not be for them but I always encourage recipe substitutions in the name of creativity so if anyone finds a good peanut or nut free alternative to the peanut butter in the recipe, let me know if the comments below! I was inspired to look for cookie recipes so that I could share some with my godmother Sue, who has been very kind in testing out several of my blog recipes.

This was a relatively simple recipe, I didn’t run into any huge logistical or recipe errors which is great! The recipe requires butter to be at room temp and unlike the brown sugar and maple cookies, the butter can be microwaved thirty seconds to forty five seconds to soften it. The recipe will be quite stiff with the peanut butter addition so the butter can be almost melted if you need to microwave it. To make these cookies less stiff, the recipe calls for a tablespoon or two of water. You could even add another tablespoon if you need to and don’t be alarmed when the dough gets really stiff after you mix all the ingredients together.

I normally mix my dry and wet goods separately but I know that some people along with myself sometimes just throw everything in the bowl and mix. In this recipe, try to use two separate bowls for wet and dry goods if you can because the peanut butter will cause everything to stick together and not mix well. Final note is that I used chocolate chips in the cookies because they were all I had on hand. They do taste great in the cookies but you don’t get as much peanut butter without using the peanut butter cups recommended by the original recipe. So if you like a more chocolate than peanut butter, use chips but if you love that PB then go find some mini peanut butter cups to use! I hope that you enjoy this recipe and follow any of the above mentioned tips!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

• 177 grams (1 1/2 cups) All Purpose flour
• 43 grams (1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 99 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 106 grams (1/2 cup packed) brown sugar
• 113 grams (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 67 grams (1/4 cup) smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 28 grams (2 tablespoons) water
• 255 grams (1 1/2 cup) mini-peanut butter cups or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line two baking sheets.
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and water to that bowl and then stir in the dry ingredients.
5. Stir in the mini peanut butter cups or chocolate chips until blended well.
6. Scoop out tablespoon sized balls of dough and place onto the lined baking sheets. Flatten the cookies to 1/2 inch thick (this is so they will bake through)
7. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set and you smell chocolate (If you have a hot oven, baking time may only be 7 minutes)
8. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack and enjoy!