Before I tell you about these cookies, I need to tell you something else. I know you aren’t supposed to capitalize in posts or emails. That it means you are yelling. But I need to yell this.
I’M TEACHING COOKING CLASSES IN OAKLAND!!!!!!!!
Excessive exclamation points are gauche too but I don’t care! (!!!!) It has been almost a year since we moved to the Bay Area and I have missed teaching so much. I am not able to do it in my home kitchen because it is too small. I looked into multiple opportunities to teach elsewhere but nothing felt right. Recently, a dinner out with a friend turned into a partnership and now my classes, at long last, have a home. Want to join us? We’ve got some terrific things coming up – a Warm Weather Soups and Salads class in August, an End of Summer Classics in September, and a Knife Skills class also in September. Much more information can be found on the Classes page of this site. I’d love to see some new faces in class!
Onward. Recently Randy gave me a look. A deeply disappointed look. Sorrowful even. It could only mean one thing. The cookie jar had been empty for far too long.
It’s true. I went on a little cookie baking hiatus. The last cookie recipe I posted here was back in March (Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust – they are terrific). They aren’t the last cookies I made but truthfully, there haven’t been many since those.. Sorry to the cookie lovers. I hope these make up for it.
I was remembering Randy’s look as I headed into the grocery store yesterday. I hadn’t had time to page through my new cookie books to find something to make, so I turned to the trusted Epicurious app and typed in “peanut butter cookies”. Why peanut butter? Good question. I wanted to go a little different direction than usual. There aren’t many peanut butter recipes on this site – cookies with milk chocolate chunks, peanut butter cup brownies, Holly B’s peanut butter brownies. Wait. Is that a lot? I don’t think in over five years of writing that is a lot of peanut butter recipes but maybe I’m wrong. In any case, as I said in one or all of those posts, peanut butter cookies are not my first choice. There must be chocolate. I found these to be especially charming because they have a bit of honey in them and the chocolate, while delicious, is restrained. It is first and foremost a peanut butter cookie but the chocolate, semi-sweet this time, helps keep it from being too monotonous. The texture can only be described as pillowy which feels just right for a peanut butter cookie.
Yes, I baked these for my family, but I doubled the recipe so I can give them out as a treat at the end of my class this week. Oh, I didn’t mention that I give out Dana Treats at the end of each class? Another reason you should join us!
Two Years Ago: Ganache Filled Brown Sugar Bars, Soba Noodle Bowl, Lemony Chickpea and Sun-Dried Tomato Stew
Three Years Ago: Asparagus and Leek Bread Pudding, Big French Salad, Kosheri, Chocolate Pavé
Four Years Ago: Grilled Vegetable Salsa, Coconut Bars, Vegetarian Bahn Mi, Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars, Roasted Tomato and Olive Galette with Fontina
Five Years Ago: Leek Frittata
Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks
Epicurious
Makes about 24 cookies
I doubled this recipe (why not?) and made my cookies on the larger side. I used an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter and patted the scoops down lightly with the palm of my hand. The batter is extremely soft so do take the time to refrigerate it. Lastly, I almost never grease or line my cookie sheets – the amount of butter in cookies makes them kind of non-stick, so I skipped that step of the recipe.
1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 ounces)
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped