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Nov 12th Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: How to Make Friends Anywhere

“When you have more than you need, build a longer table not a higher fence” – Unknown

I have been carrying around this cookie recipe for a while now. It’s proved useful more than once, so I thought I should share it. I modified an existing chocolate chip recipe by adding peanut butter and reducing regular butter. The reason I am a fan of this recipe is that it’s easy, it’s forgiving, and it’s delicious. I once cooked them when we had some downtime on an oil rig. Everybody on that location stopped by to say “Hello” once the word got out. They were gone before the next shift showed up. Most recently, I made two batches for the family Erin and I were staying with in Ecuador. The hardest part was paying for the peanut butter. It can get a little pricy in some countries. The first batch disappeared within a day, so a few days later when we had a power outage, Erin and I lit every candle we could find, and I started baking. Luckily the stove and oven ran on propane. Some day, I intend to try cooking these on an open fire and eventually a car engine… just to prove it can be done… I’ll keep you all posted.

Ingredients:                                     Imperial         or             Grams          or         Millilitres

Margarine (or butter)                    1 Cup                               227 g                        237 ml

Brown Sugar                                    2 Cups                             440 g                       474 ml

Granulated (white) Sugar              1 Cup                               220 g                       237 ml

Large Eggs                                        4                                       4                               4

Vanilla Extract                                 3 Tsp                                15 g                          15 ml

Peanut Butter                                   1 Cup                                340 g                      237 ml

Flour                                                   4 Cups                             500 g                      948 ml

Baking Soda                                      2 Tsp                                10 g                         10 ml

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips         1 Cup                               190 g                       237 ml

 

Bake at 350° Fahrenheit or 177° Celsius for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 1:Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and baking soda together in a large bowl.

Step 2: On low heat, melt the margarine (or butter) and the peanut butter together.

Step 3: Pour peanut butter and butter mixture into bowl with dry goods and mix.

Step 4: Add vanilla extract and eggs. Be cautious that the mixture isn’t too hot still from the stove as it will cook the eggs. If mixture is hot, simply wait for it to cool  a bit before adding the eggs.

Step 5: If the dough appears too dry (crumbly or powdery), add an extra egg since some eggs are simply smaller than others. If the mixture appears too moist (if you are unable to roll it into small balls the size of an egg), add a small amount of flour and reassess.

Step 6: Add chocolate chips. They are added last to avoid melting into the dough.

Step 7: Roll the dough into a ball about the size of an egg (you can go larger or small if you desire, but try to be consistent). Place the balls of dough spaced apart on a cookie sheet (give each ball about 2 times its width on each side as they will expand out as they cook). After your first tray of cookies, you will have a better idea of spacing and cook time, so don’t stress. Once on the sheet press them down with a fork.

Step 8: Bake cookies in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch for the edges starting to darken and the over all gloss of the cookies to change.

Step 9: Remove cookies from the oven, allow to cool for a minute or two before removing from the pan, as it will allow them to firm up and come off easier. Place them on a cooling rack, wax paper, a large plate, really anything that they can sit on and cool for a while. Inspect to see if they are too doughy inside or burnt on the bottom and adjust the cook time on the next batch to go into the oven.

Repeat steps 7 through 9 until all cookie dough is gone. This makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on the size of the actual cookies. You may want to half this recipe. Then again, having too many cookies isn’t a problem that I’ve ever had.

Lastly, comment below and let me know how yours turn out!

Posted in How-To, Recipewith 2 comments.