Day 1: Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

Are you all ready for some serious cookie-mania? I feel like in the food blogging world, December is the prime month for cookies. Everyone loves doing the 12 days of cookies and since I did it last year, I’ll continue my tradition. From now til Christmas, I’ll blog about 12 different types of cookies. That way, you’ll have plenty to choose from when deciding what to bake for your Christmas baskets. 🙂

Day 1 of my 12 days of cookies: This recipe is from Baked. I found it on Food Gal’s blog and had to try it from her mouth-watering pictures. I’ve seen this recipe pop up on a few other websites, and it was always raved about. They were good if you were a peanut butter/chocolate lover. I just found out that I don’t really care for the combination…. and neither does my family/boyfriend’s family. Hmm.. Note to self: Don’t bake peanut butter cookies for a family event.

I found them a bit on the salty side and wish they would have been a bit fluffier instead of so flat. I even made sure to refrigerate mine for at least 3 hours! I would definitely try freezing the dough next time instead of just refrigerating, in hopes of a thicker cookie. Oh well.. they still tasted good! The recipe may seem a little lengthy, but I promise it’s not!

Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks (makes 24 cookies)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) 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 milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Sift 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 butter and sugars together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
3. Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in chocolate. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With palm of your hand, very gently press each cookie down so it forms a very tall disk shape. Do not press too hard and do not press it flat.
7. Sprinkle tops of cookies with granulated sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until tops of cookies just begin to brown.
8. Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer individual cookies to the rack to cook completely (although they are also delicious warm).
9. The cookies can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

To recap last year’s list of my 12 days of cookies:

• Day 1: Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
• Day 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Day 3: NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Day 4: No Fail Sugar Cookies
• Day 5: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
• Day 6: Oatmeal Toffee & Walnut Cookies, with a hint of cocoa
• Day 7: M&M Cookies
• Day 8: Andes Mint Brownies
• Day 9: Peanut Butter Blossoms
• Day 10: Gingerbread Men
• Day 11: S’mores Cookie Bars
• Day 12: Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies