Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 My husband likes a cookie. And I was expecting guests for a crafting day, so I started searching around the internet.  I  recently had a cookbook that I checked out of the library, but I returned it before I checked out the recipe for Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Sally's Baking Addiction had a close version of this one.

One thing about her recipe that called to me was when she mentioned that she did not recommend the crunchy peanut butter for cookies.  She explained the smooth peanut butter was a better choice. It seems crunchy peanut butter makes cookies crumbly. If you want the crunch and the extra peanut butter flavor, then you should add chopped peanuts with the chocolate chips. So that's what I did.

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups creamy peanut butter (Yes. It seems like a lot.  Do it anyway.)

2 teaspoons vanilla 

1 1/2 cups semi sweet cookies 

1/2 cup rough chopped peanuts

( If you don't want to add the nuts, increase the chocolate chips to 2 cups.

1/2 cup sugar for rolling the dough balls

I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. If you don't have one I hope you have a strong arm for lots of mixing.

Place the softened butter in the bowl of the mixer.  Add the brown sugar and 1 cup of granulated sugar.

Stir until the mixture is creamy.  You may have to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides.

While the mixer is working, put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk gently to mix.  Set aside.

Chop up 1/2 cup of peanuts.

Add the eggs to the mixing bowl and mix on high until combined.  You will need to scrape up from the bottom of the bowl and keep mixing.

Put the peanut butter and vanilla in the bowl and keep mixing.  

When it is all incorporated, carefully put the flour mixture in the mixing bowl.  Start it up slowly and then mix on slow.  

Add the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts. I chose to do this part by hand as I didn't want to break up any of the large chips.

The dough will be thick and soft so cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare each baking sheet with a SilPat or parchment paper. Place 1/2 of sugar into a small bowl. 

Scoop the dough into large balls.  I have a 2 Tablespoon scoop, but it called for more than that, so I attempted to make a 3 Tablespoon ball. Roll the round ball in the bowl of sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets and press down slightly so it doesn't roll around, but isn't flattened.

Bake for 14-15 minutes or until the sides appear set and lightly browned.  The tops will be soft.  Cool the cookies for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

These cookies were full of delightful chocolate and peanut butter flavor.  The sugar on the outside added a wonderful crunch.  They came out thick and chewy and I highly recommend!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We're having a simple Thanksgiving this year. It's just the two of us and I'm not making a bunch of food.  I bought a frozen turkey breast and we'll have mashed potatoes and a salad. I did buy cranberry sauce as it is necessary for the sandwiches over the coming days.

I decided I needed to make some pumpkin cookies in lieu of having candied sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons milk

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves (optional. I wouldn't buy it just for 1/8 teaspoon!)

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups (one package) chocolate chips. I splurged with the Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Place precut parchment paper on a couple of baking sheets.  

Mix sugar and oil in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla and stir to combine.  

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Stir to combine.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

I wanted to use my largest cookie scoop to make big puffy cookies.  It looks like an ice cream scoop. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart,  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are no longer glossy.  Mine took 14 minutes.

Remove the pan and allow the cookies to rest for about 5 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack.

If you looks closely you can see the flecks of spices in the cookies.  They add a nice touch but you can just add the cinnamon if you wish.

When the cookies are completely cool they can be stored in an air tight container.

These cookies are moist and will become  even more moist when kept in storage.  I found that cookies the next day were better when placed in a toaster oven at 300° for 2 minutes.