Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Well, to start with, this is my first cookie of the New Year!  I was in New Jersey for a few weeks, and I don’t generally do much baking there (the kitchen is more frequently occupied by my mother).  Plus, we had so many leftover Christmas cookies that there was no space for anymore in the house!

This first cookie is a soft peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips, which I basically made up in a half-batch recipe.  I’ve been craving peanut butter a lot lately, so I wanted to bake it into something.  I have a particular love for “The Heat Is On” from Peanut Butter & Co. (but obviously not for baking!)-  I dip chik’n (that’s fake chicken) strips in it – an amazing snack! These cookies are great, because they only use one bowl, so they can be easily whipped up in an instant!

chocolate chip peanut butter

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
1/4 c butter, softened
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky (I used PB&Company which is not sweet)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 c sifted flour
1 cup chocolate chips (I used a combination of Baker’s Chocolate Chunks and Toll House Swirled Morsels)

1. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat together the butter and both sugars until creamy. Add in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla and beat until well-blended. Beat in flour, baking soda and salt until just mixed, and stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Shape the dough into rounded tablespoons and place on the baking sheet. Flatten the balls with a fork and bake 13-15 minutes.

Makes about 15 cookies