Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies {Baked}

So can you tell I have an obsession with making things from the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking? You have seen me make their Sweet & Salty Brownies and their Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies, so I figured it was time to try out their Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

A week or so ago, my father-in-law was sick in the hospital and when he got home we asked him if there was anything he needed and his only request was peanut butter cookies. I knew I couldn't just make any old version of the cookie, I had to bring out the big guns. And in our house, the big guns means any recipe from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

I have never been a huge peanut butter cookie fan but these changed my mind real fast. Like lightning fast. I couldn't believe how much I liked them. Normally I feel like the peanut butter taste competes in weird ways with the chocolate, which to me should be the star ingredient in these kind of cookies. And thanks to the geniuses behind Baked I now know why:

 

Who knew? Not me. I almost made this fatal mistake because all I had on hand were semi sweet chocolate chips. I never knew how disastrous that could be. So since it was late at night and I was already half way through making the dough I did what any normal person would do. I pulled out a bag of clearance Dove milk chocolate Easter eggs and chopped them up into chunks. What, you don't just have bags of Easter candy stockpiled in your pantry for baking emergencies? Weird...

Improvising at its finest.

I am sure that Justin will get mad at me if he sees that I chopped chocolate with that knife. Apparently it is not the "correct" knife for chocolate, or so I have been told.

Anyways, all Easter candy aside, these were perfection. Chewy, not too cakey, just the right amount of peanut butter to chocolate chunks. I almost liked them better that the Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. I said "almost". So you should probably try them for yourself and see what you think and then let me know : )

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking Cookbook

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 ounces good quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped (or Dove eggs if you are me...)

1.)  Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

2.) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and peanut butter until just incorporated.

3.) Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.

4.) Fold in the chocolate by hand.

5.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I lined my baking sheets with parchment paper.

6.) Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart. I flattened out each cookie a little with my hand and then sprinkled the tops of the cookies with granulated sugar.

7.) Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies just begin to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Make sure you stop by this week's Mealtime Monday and link up any amazing recipes you have been working on lately.

***Depending on the day this post may be linked up to any of these fabulous linky parties.***