My Family's Favorite Cookies

As you can tell from past posts, you probably know that a passion of mine is baking.  With that being said, I've decided to share one of my family's favorite cookies....Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies.
 
The complete recipe is at the end.  I made a quarduple batch of cookies.  In a house with 9 people, there isn't much sense in only making a single batch of anything.  Through trial and error, we have found that making the dough and allowing it to set in the refrigerator overnight produces a better tasting cookie.  We usually make 2 sheet pans of cookies when the dough is first made, and then bake the remaining dough in the next day or two.
 
The first thing that I like to do is make my own brown sugar.  It's very easy, and this way I never have to worry about whether the box or bag of brown sugar in the cabinet has become a brick bat.  For a cup of brown sugar, measure 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar with 1 Tbsp. of molasses.  If you prefer dark brown sugar double the molasses to 2 Tbsp.

Next, add in the white sugar and the softened butter.  Cream well.

 

Next, I crack the eggs into a cereal bowl and add in the vanilla.  Then I use my kitchen scale to weigh out the peanut butter.  This is much easier for me than spraying a measuring cup with non-stick spray or worrying about getting all of the peanut butter out of the cup.  Honestly, I want every drop of the crunchy peanut butter in the dough.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and crunchy peanut butter to your creamed mixture of sugars and butter.  Blend well.

While that's mixing, measure out your dry ingredients, and have the chocolate chips handy.

Once everything is creamed well, add in the flour/oat mixture in 1 cup batches.  When you have about one cup of flour/oats remaining in the bowl, pour the chocolate chips into it.  Stir to coat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, and using a small scoop or two spoons measure out into 1 inch balls.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Pull parchment sheets of cookies onto cooling racks.  Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before eating.

Here is the recipe.  I hope that you and your family enjoy making and eating these as much as my family does.

May God bless you and yours abundantly!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

• In a bowl, cream butter and sugars; beat in peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing to a wire rack. Yield: 2 dozen.