Peanut Butter Cookies

Who can resist a good old fashion peanut butter cookie .... and with chocolate chips as well! Not everyone that's for sure, unless you are allergic to nuts.

When I decided to make a batch of these cookies, I decided on a Western recipe instead. You'll probably stumped at this point of time .. huh Western recipe! I honestly think there are two versions to a peanut butter cookie. The Asian recipe which most of us associate with Chinese New Year. This recipe calls for unsalted roasted peanuts to be ground finely and then added to the cookie dough. It definitely does not have chocolate chips in the recipe. The Western recipe on the other hand just uses peanut butter straight from the jar. However the end result is pretty close in taste but I do think that the Chinese recipe does result in a more fragrant cookie.





Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
113g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup chunky peanut butter (you can use smooth if you want)
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top of the cookies

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and the salt. Set aside.

2) In another bowl, beat in the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then add in the the peanut butter and beat until smooth. Add egg and mix well. Then add the milk and the vanilla.

3) Slowly add the dry mixture into the batter in 2 or 3 additions. Beat until just mixed thoroughly (do not overbeat).

4) Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls of the cookie dough onto baking sheet lined with parchment. Leave about 1 inch between each cookie. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss cross pattern. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top of each cookie.

5) Bake in pre-heated oven of 180C for about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.