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I already know what you’re thinking. “Another chocolate chip cookie recipe?” And normally, I would agree with you…but…I promise you, these cookies are a step above your average ‘chip cookie.’ Despite my assurances of these cookies’ superiority, I’m know a few of you are still a bit skeptical, “Seriously, you have a food blog and the best you can come up with is chocolate chip cookies?” In my defense, let me say that these cookies are really really good.  

The peanut butter, honey and relatively low amount of flour really gives the finished product a tender, creamy texture.Ok, now that I have done my best to redeem my culinary bona fides by laying out my case for these cookies – I will admit one thing. Normally, I HATE peanut butter cookies. Why would you go through the work of baking cookies and not add chocolate? I mean, is that even legal? In my mind, ovens could easily have been invented for no other purpose then turning hard, cold chocolate into soft, warm, creamy gooeyness that gets smudged all over your fingers. So, as I came across this recipe thumbing through my new copy of ‘Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone,’ I was intrigued. I thought to myself, “Eureka! Have I found another way to feed my addiction to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?” Will these cookies be the ‘nicotine patch’ that will wean me off said addiction? Possibly. I’ll let you know in a later post. Until then, back to the cookies.

This is going to be a relatively wet dough for cookies. So, if you are looking for clump cookies, this is not the recipe. And whatever you do, DO NOT OVER MIX THE DOUGH – unless you are a fan of cookies that are tough and crumbly (that sounds like a made up word). Oh, one last word on keeping these cookies tender. Although the recipe calls for 12 minutes in a 350F oven, take note that if you are using a convection oven they probably won’t need to bake that long.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Adapted from Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone 

I’ve made a slight change in the amount of vanilla and chocolate. I’ve increased them both.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8 tbl unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 tbl honey

1 large egg

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

6 oz semisweet chocolate (chopped into large chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large heavy duty baking sheets with aluminum foil.

Mix the flour, baking soda and the salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, honey egg and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture in two additions. Stir in the shoppes chocolate.

Scoop about 2 tablespoonsful of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes (shorter time if using a convection oven), or until the cookies puff and begin to brown on top but are still soft to the touch.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Then use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack.