I've always wanted to make peanut butter cookies. Charming in its simplicity, yet undeniably delicious. And addicting. These make your house smell like peanut butter heaven, and one bite into the soft and chewy cookie leaves you pining for some more. And pretty soon, you'll find that all the cookies are mysteriously gone...
These cookies not only have a soft chewy crumb inside, but also have a subtle crispy sugar coating and criss-cross pattern top. See? Pretty and yummy. Who said perfection isn't possible?
Here's how you do it:
Thoroughly cream the butter and peanut butter.
Add the sugars (granulated sugar and brown sugar). Beat thoroughly. Add the egg. Beat thoroughly.
Add milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
Add the Reese's peanut butter cups (or peanut butter chips) and chocolate chips. In retrospect, I feel like it wouldn't have hurt if I'd added more Reese's peanut butter cups than I did.
Now make tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls, toss in granulated sugar, and make prominent criss-cross patterns with a fork. I arranged my cookies too closely together in the photo above. In my later batches, I placed only 5 - 6 cookies per sheet. Bake & enjoy!
Love,
Monica
Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
Yield: 25 cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg, preferably at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (or Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped into halves)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) and beat thoroughly.
Stir in the peanut butter chips (or Reese’s peanut butter cups) and chocolate chips. Place the 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar into a small bowl. Scoop the cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls and toss in sugar until lightly coated.
Place onto cookie sheet, leaving a good 3 to 4 inches of space between each cookie for expansion (I fit 5 - 6 cookies comfortably onto a sheet). Using a fork, make a criss cross pattern indentation on each cookie, but do not overly flatten the cookies.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Do not over-bake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not. Enjoy!