Perfect Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Do you have plans tonight?

Cancel them.

Or at the very least, postpone them by the ten minutes it will take to get out the ingredients for these cookies, whip up the dough, stick it in the fridge to chill, and do the dishes.

Trust me, those ten minutes will be well worth it.

I lived far too many years of my life not knowing cookies like these existed, and I would just hate for someone else to make the same mistake.

I know what you're saying. Katie, isn't this the eleventh chocolate peanut butter recipe you've blogged about in the past two years?

Yes, it is, and I'm not ashamed.

Because this one is different. All the previous recipes were good. Some were really incredible. But they were all complicated. Like this chocolate peanut butter mousse cake, for instance. It's ridiculous decadent, and not overly complicated to assemble, but it will certainly require lots of planning ahead and a special trip to the grocery store.

That's not the case for these little treats.

I bet you have all the ingredients in your pantry right not. Creamy peanut butter. Dark brown sugar. One egg. A little vanilla. A touch of baking soda.

Throw the ingredients in your stand mixer, whisk up for three minutes, and then pack away for at least four hours, or until chilled.

Avoid cracking the fridge open every few minutes as you walk by, or there will be very little dough left when you're ready to bake the cookies.

Eat them warmed up for a few seconds or at room temperature. Just make sure the chocolate is a little soft when you bite in.

I better go.

There are only two of these bad boys left on my counter, and they're calling to me.


Perfect Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

This recipe yields 16 cookies, potentially more if you snack less than I did. :)

Note: Averie posted this recipe very recently, and I can't stop thinking about it. I made minor changes to her recipe, based on my personal preferences. I tend to use dark brown sugar in baked goods, and I always like a little more vanilla than a recipe calls for. 

Ingredients
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of the best chocolate chips you'll buy

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine peanut butter, dark brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat for about 3 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the mixer occasionally.

Add baking soda and mix about 20 seconds longer, until baking soda is incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and mix in the chocolate chips. The dough may appear like it's not really holding together. That's OK. This is a dough that really needs to be shaped into cookies when it's put on the tray.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place two-tablespoon balls of dough on an ungreased cookie tray, about 2 inches apart. The cookies will not spread much. You may need to really force the dough into a ball.

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are lightly golden. The cookies will still seem soft.

Cool the cookies on the tray for at least 8 minutes. Remove from the tray and transfer to a wire rack for cooling.

Serve warm, and eat several.

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