Peanut Butter Chocolate Candy Cookies

Saturday, February 27, 2021

I love love.

This sometimes surprises people, but I can’t blame them. I work in biotech, wear Timberlands every day, and look more like a young carpenter than a sexy rom-com heroine, but I love love.

I’ve read every Jane Austen book twice — Persuasion even more (that final letter? Be still my Regency-era heart!) — and forced my family to sit through the entire 6-hour BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice. I find the sociology and psychology of emotion fascinating and think the most brilliant stand-up comedy is as romantic as it is darkly comedic.

Given the above confession, it’s perhaps equally unsurprising that I thoroughly enjoy Valentine’s Day.

Now I know that’s a controversial statement in some circles. Still, I look forward to February 14th because I choose to interpret the celebration in the broadest, most wholesome way: here is a day to appreciate love.

Why limit yourself to romantic partners? Extend the definition of “loved one” to family members, friends, your pets, your hobbies — if you love someone or something, Valentine’s Day is just a little annual reminder to appreciate that person or passion. Get brunch with the girls, make dinner for your folks, pick up an extra treat for your pup at the bougie canine bakery down the street.

Even if you’re not sold on Valentine’s Day, I must admit there’s a day I look forward to even more. Much like the day after Halloween, February 15th is an excellent day to buy discounts, novelty-shaped delights, and bake a batch of candy cookies! If there’s one thing I love more than love itself, it’s a warm cookie straight from the oven.

Last week I found myself left with the perfect amount of heart-shaped, peanut-butter chocolate candies to bake up a modified batch of my go-to chocolate chip cookies. To compensate for the increased sugar in these chocolates as opposed to the traditional semisweet chips, I reduced the sugar in the recipe by half and made sure to add toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts to increase the nuttiness.

As peanut butter is one of my favorite foods and pairing it with chocolate is a coupling more perfect than even Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy, perhaps baking these cookies late at night was just asking for trouble, but you’ll notice I haven’t included a single image of a cooled cookie… I’m sorry, I can appreciate good photography, but not as much as I appreciate a bite of sweet melted chocolate and warm peanut buttery goodness.

Make a batch and see how long your self-restraint can last — all I have left to add is: good luck.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Candy Cookies (adapted loosely from Smitten Kitchen’s “Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies”)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (80 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 115 grams) butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 + 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or flaky sea salt)
• 3/4 cup (100 grams) semisweet chocolate chunks
• 3/4 cup (100 grams) peanut-butter chocolate candies, roughly chopped (I used a motley of peanut-butter filled Dove chocolates and heart-shaped Reeses)
• Scant 1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or peanuts, toasted and chopped

Protocol:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300 F (150 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat the sugars and butter together until smooth.
3. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.
4. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter.
5. Mix in the chocolate chunks, chopped candies, and nuts.
6. Now, feel free to skip this step and roll and bake your cookies right away, but I like to let my cookie dough chill, covered in the fridge, for a couple of hours first. This helps the flavors to marry and keeps the cookies from spreading out too much in the oven. After chilling about an hour or up to overnight in the fridge, I scoop and roll the dough into 2-tablespoon (5 cm) balls; if the dough has been chilling for a while, you may need to let it warm up slightly on the counter before scooping and rolling. At this point, I bake off as many cookies as I want (see following steps) and freeze the remaining cookie dough balls in a large freezer Ziploc, so I can have warm cookies whenever I want! Last night, I treated myself to an indulgent little batch of two cookies to enjoy while Skyping some college friends. Just add a minute or two to the baking time if baking from frozen.
7. Place cookie dough balls a few inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 15–18 minutes or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. (If you have the self-restraint to let them cool, that is.)
9. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.

Happy snacking!