Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies



I don't go tossing around the word "Ultimate" in recipe titles all willy nilly for a couple of reasons. One reason being that most recipes I come across with the word ultimate in the title are just recipes on "roids", meaning let's take a pretty basic recipe and throw in every item in the pantry and called it ultimate. Sometimes this produces an epic recipe, sometimes an epic calorie bomb with no flavor being a stand out. Another reason I shy away from the word ultimate is because it comes with the negative connotation that I'm just trying to be an attention whore and you all know by now how much I dislike that.  (Feel free to quit laughing at any point so we can get on with the recipe.)

In an ideal world when I conjure up the word "Ultimate", I imagine that it means a perfect balance between objects, a complete composed symphony of flavors, textures, sweetness, saltiness and aaahhh (because umami is so yesterday.)

Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salted crispy peanuts, chopped into large pieces (I buy mine at an Asian grocery store, but any salty peanuts will work.)

Heat an oven to 350 degrees F.

To a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, oil, and peanut butter, mix for a minute until combined.  Add the sugar and egg and mix until combined.  Add the flour, cocoa, vanilla and salt and mix until combined.  Stir in the peanuts.

Scoop the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, parchment or buttered.  I use a medium sized cookie scoop that holds 2 tablespoons of dough.  If you use a spoon you are looking for golf ball sized balls. (Why does the word balls make me giggle?)


Bake for 10-12 minutes.  You just want the cookies set in the middle.  Let cool.

Note:  I didn't flatten the balls prior to placing them in the oven and since I wanted to stack them for a photo I just pressed them a bit when they came out of the oven to give them a flat top.  Just be sure your glass is heat resistant.

Makes 24 cookies.


I placed a photo of these on my FB going into the oven and within 15 minutes I had my brother and niece knocking on my door for samples.  Here is a direct quote from my brother "Probably the best cookie I ever had." So now you know why I have complete confidence in naming these cookies Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. 

Enjoy,

Gina

27 comments:

  1. Okay, I've stopped laughing now and I'm ready for cookies...simplicity is the "ultimate" virtue ~~~~ ;)
    Enjoy those beauties...wish I was there to smell them baking and help you devour them!

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  2. I'll take "aaahhh" over "umami" any day of the week. Much prefer your vocab on that one! Nicely done as always. :) Hope you're having a good week, Gina!

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  3. Wish you were here to have some with me too Lorraine. Katty, it's going on the road way too much this week, wish I was home eating these cookies.

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  4. Gina,
    I saw these cookies on FB, too, but it would take me a little longer to get to your house. We love choclcate and PB together so I'll have to make these soon. I love your pics, andd you are on a roll! Have a great week.

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  5. Yum...like a Reeses cup in a cookie form...I LOVE THESE! BTW? You won my Top Hat dessert topping giveaway, so shoot me an e-mail so you can tell me your picks and give me your shipping info. Congrats!!

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  6. How about 'Epic Ultimate' Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! I like the sound of that title;-) I baked cookies today, must have been that cold wind that blew through here during the day, needed the oven on for warmth. At any rate, I'm loving your cookie recipe and will pin it now for future use, thanks my dear;-)

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  7. Actually 'umami' chocolate peanut butter cookies sound great to me too.
    They look fabulous!

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  8. My brother is a pain when I am baking...LOL!I know how difficult it is please him, so perhaps I may just try this recipe, he'll be out of words. He is a PB addict, and will definitely supply the word Ultimate to this, without me hinting on it. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. I can definitely see why these are "ultimate"-worthy!

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  10. i try to avoid the ultimate/the best and other "the" as it always changes. But my love for chocolate and peanut butter I doubt it will!

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  11. Brand new way of serving peanut butter cookies; looks wonderful.
    Rita

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  12. If I saw these on FB and I lived next door, you bet I'd fly over to your home on my magic broom faster than you can say 'ultimate'! (or 'umami', they both have 3 syllables and start with u, anyways). I really trust your word on the ultimate yumminess of these cookies, so will be baking these soon. Not too sure about that attention whore statement, though...isn't that the reason why we all blog? Lol!

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  13. Love your thinking Miss Maya Dear!

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  14. Ultimate is a pretty high recommendation - I'll have to try this recipe out. :)

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  15. This cookie totally deserves the ultimate label. You sure you can't ship them to Europe?

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  16. Gina, I loved this. Peanut butter cookies are always welcome at our home and I always try out different recipes for this to see which one works the best for me. This recipe is slighty different that the two recipes I have in my recipe folder, so I'd love to try this one. Btw, your cookies look fabulous!

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  17. This look pretty ultimate to me! Nice recipe, great pictures. Thanks for this.

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  18. I think there is nothing better than a chocolate and peanut butter dessert so these look so, so tasty to me! Glad to have discovered your blog on Foodbuzz! :)

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  19. Ultimate indeed - I can't imagine any cookie gooier, chewier or more perfect with milk :D
    Love it!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  20. Hi Gina-you got the chocolate peanut butter cookies are so addictive, yummy delicious...what a coincidence! I just posted a chocolate peanut butter pudding, on my latest post. Love the beautiful photos, as well!
    xoxo

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  21. LOL :D You are hilarious... :) This does look Ultimate though - especially with those salted peanuts in there! I just love salted peanuts... Thank you for this recipe, Gina! I intend to make these soon :) Thank you!

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  22. Thanks Gill for dropping by! These cookies look insanely delicious. Chocolate and PB is always a winner of a combination in my books. :)

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  23. These are definitely a winner! With your brother's endorsement, they may make an appearance in the Berg kitchen soon :)

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  24. These cookies sound amazing. Peanut butter and chocolate wins my heart every time.

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  25. Haha, they do look and sound like the "Ultimate" cookie. Soon all your FB followers are going to be waiting at your door :)

    Thanks for being a part of May's YBR :)

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  26. I am pretty sure that "ultimate" is an appropriate word here! Just the delightful combination alone tells me that, and then they were made by you...perfect! :)

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