Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate and peanut butter, a combination so classic that it's hard to beat. If you like chocolate and peanut butter together like me, you'll be a fan of these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.

These cookies take all the best things about a chocolate cookie (the rich taste and crispy, yet chewy texture) and combine it with all of the best things about a peanut butter cookie (the salty, yet sweet taste and soft texture) to form the hybrid cookie of your dreams.

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that your butter is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Egg: You want to make sure that your egg is at room temperature to ensure that it is properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave it out before you start baking, place it in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until it becomes room temperature.
• Measuring Your Ingredients: I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.
• Oven Temperature: Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.
• Check out My Favorite Baking Tools to see what I use when I bake.

Preheat oven to 350º. Starting with the peanut butter dough, use a stand or handheld mixer to blend together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter on medium speed until combined.

Add in the egg and continue to mix. With the mixer on low, add in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Place the bowl of dough in the fridge or wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. In a clean bowl, blend together the butter and sugar for the chocolate dough on medium speed until combined.

Add in the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix. With the mixer on low, add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a scoop that is approximately 2 tablespoon worth, scoop all of the peanut butter dough, placing each ball of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Clean the scoop and repeat this same process with the chocolate dough.

Carefully take one ball of peanut butter dough and one ball of chocolate dough and press them together, using your hands to roll them into one larger dough ball.

Gently roll each dough ball in sugar and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with the seam side upwards. Repeat this process until all cookies have been formed, being sure to leave a few inches between each cookie.

Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes.  You can use a round cookie cutter or cup to "cookie scoot" or round them out at about the 12 minute mark. Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet before carefully moving them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!