Now, I want to be clear about these chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Full disclosure: These are not what you rustle up for a school bake sale. These are not a treat that you share with someone you kind of like, or for the leaving do of someone who once leant you a stapler.
No no, these are the cookies you want your children to remember from their childhood. Or for when you’ve just been dumped. For a good friend who has just suffered a serious blow in life. These are for when your teenager comes home having just had their heart broken for the first time (I can’t even think about it) and for when you’ve met the love of your life and they’re ‘just popping round’ (but you’ve shaved your legs even though you’re wearing jeans) Or, if you’re a person who, like me, doesn’t believe in saving the fancy underwear for a special occasion that might never come, they could be for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
What I’m trying to convey – and if you rustle them up you’ll support me on this – is that these chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies are something terribly special.
This makes 12-14, or, if you have a husband who walks past and takes a few scoops of cookie dough into the bath with him, or curious kids appearing in the kitchen, 10.
So here’s what you’ll need
{I do consider the price of these ingredients an investment – most are things you’ll have at home so you really will taste the difference if you use better quality options for the bits listed… but needs must, and if you don’t have the budget – they will still taste delicious}
35g cocoa powder
125 unsalted butter, softened
155g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
130g soft dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
1tsp vanilla extract
3 heaped tbsp good quality organic crunchy peanut butter
150g good quality dark chocolate (I used Green & Blacks)
200g high quality white chocolate chips/chunks
250g good quality dark chocolate chips/chunks
*Optional – peanut butter chunks, I found Reese’s in Sainsbury’s but don’t add them often
{Also}
An ice cream scoop
A baking sheet lined with parchment
A couple of mixing bowls (or large saucepans if they’re all in the dishwasher, as mine were today) and wooden spoons (though you can use a kitchen aid if you prefer)
{All of your ingredients need to be at room temperature, apart from your egg, which should be cold directly from the fridge}
Here’s how we make these gooey, chewy chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies
- Preheat the oven to 170°C / 150°C for a fan oven / 325°F
- Break up the dark chocolate into pieces and melt in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water
- Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl. Sieve over the cocoa, then sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix lightly.
- Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.
- While it’s still hot, add the melted chocolate to the butter and sugar.
- Add the vanilla, peanut butter and egg to your chocolate mixture, and add the dry ingredients, mixing as you go.
- Use your ice cream scoop to create your balls of dough. Scrape off excess so the scoop is level each time, but do not flatten once the ball is on the baking parchment.
- Cook for 18 minutes.
- These are only allowed to cool for a few minutes in our house before we devour them. However, if you have more willpower than us, they are suitable for home freezing if you allow them to cool completely beforehand.
A final note
Whether it’s bonfire night, a date night or a bit of self care in front of Gilmore Girls, take a moment to enjoy these chocolate and peanut butter cookies. Life is too short to eat on the run!
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