A Midsummer Night's Pean-ut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

• Once upon a rainy Friday (which are just so rare in Vancouver) I felt the urge to take full advantage of the, as some would call it, "crappy" weather and bake up a nice batch of cookies. Not content to go for an old staple I raided my Pinterest and came up with these beauties. A twist on a classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, already a favourite in my house, the addition of peanut butter could only make them that much more delicious I thought. And I was right. Described by some as "the best cookie they've ever had" the 400 or so cookies this recipe makes (I'm exaggerating but not by much) disappeared quickly, most of which went into my own belly. I will admit I tried to freeze a few for "later" and which turned out to be the next day after a particularly long day. I regret nothing. However, if you haven't quite developed the skill that I have perfected for putting away mass quantities of sweets you may want to half the batch, or you can just give some away. You know where to find me!

  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

  
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 11.4 ounce bag chocolate chips
  Preheat oven to 325ºF/160ºC
  ✩ Beat together butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl until well combined. 
  ✩ Add sugar and brown sugar and mix until smooth. 
  ✩ Beat in eggs and vanilla.
  ✩ Add honey and baking soda then stir in oats and chocolate chips. 
  ✩ Using an ice cream scooper or large spoon, spoon heaps of mixture onto ungreased cookie sheets leaving room for the cookies to spread out while baking. 
  ✩ Bake for 15-17 minutes until golden around edges and just a hint gooey in the centre. 
  ✩ Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. 
  
  
  In my opinion it's better to take them out a little too soon than too late as slightly gooey is better than crispy in my family but they still taste good either way. Whatever floats your boat. 
  
  
  -H
  
  
  from the post on A Dash of Sanity
  
  

  
  

Emergency Peanut Butter Cookies

I hate having people over and not having something to offer them. Other than my charming

personality, obviously but you can't eat that. So what do you do when you have a guest coming over who doesn't drink tea or coffee and is allergic to chocolate? Find new friends. No, I'm kidding, sort of. It's good to have people in our lives who challenge us and to be fair, if he wasn't such a weirdo I never would've discovered this amazing peanut butter cookie recipe. So even if he turns out to be a complete dud in the end at least I can drown my sorrows in a chewy, nutty gem that, come to think of it would be delicious with a slab of dark chocolate in the middle. 

                                                                       Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes about 20 small cookies

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c crunchy natural peanut butter

1 egg 

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

-Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF - gas mark 4).

-In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl with a wooden spoon and a little elbow grease) cream butter and sugars.

-Add the peanut butter, egg and vanilla and mix until blended.

-Blend in the flour and baking soda until just combined. 

-Scoop in small balls and place on parchment lined baking trays.

-Bake for about 10-12 minutes, keeping an eye on them until they're evenly golden brown and the tops are starting to crackle. 

- Store in an airtight container for the all of two days they will last before being gobbled up. These lasted three until Carl came home but we were also using them as a main source of fuel as I've been too lazy to grocery shop this week. 

You can make substitutions here if you need to, any peanut butter can be used but your cookies will be a bit sweeter if you use a peanut butter that contains sugar. If you only have unsalted butter then just add between 1/4 and a 1/2 tsp of salt depending on personal preference and dietary needs. If you don't have dark brown sugar any brown sugar is fine I just prefer to use dark whenever I can as I like the darker molasses flavour that it gives things. Whatever floats your boat though! 

Happy Baking (and socializing!)
-Holly