Oh wow. This has been a week full of white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with hazelnuts and even 99% cocoa chocolate. My kids have been eating it on their bread for breakfast (they’re half Belgian), straight up for snacks and even popping a few Easter eggs for bedtime snack. I’ve declared it “chocolate week” and I want them to enjoy it to its fullest. Plus, I want it all out of my house by next week when they return to school and I return to my no-sugar lifestyle.
But it’s not all bad. From what I’ve been reading dark chocolate is the new super food that can help with everything from depression to anemia (my pharmacist told me that the other day). And I recently found out dark chocolate can actually prevent tooth decay.
To put a little protein into their chocolate diet I decided to make them some Peanut Butter Cookies with, you guessed it, chocolate. Usually I don’t make peanut butter cookies due to the extortionate price of peanut butter over here (I pay 6 euro for a tiny jar) but since I was brought a huge jug from America I thought I would use some of it to make these delicious cookies.
All of my Italian and European friends aren’t familiar with Peanut Butter cookies and even look slightly disturbed by the thought of them. But once they try them they usually can’t get enough. These cookies are rich, buttery and have a slight saltiness to them. I love them to no end. And you will to.
Read on for recipe…
Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (170 g) butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 (185 g)cup peanut butter
2 cups (185 g) white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
chocolate chips/chunks for tops of cookies
1. Cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in Peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
2. In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Fold flour mixture into butter mixture.
4. Roll dough into balls and put on greased cookie sheet. Slightly press down cookies with spoon or hand. If desired, place chocolate chunks or chocolate chips on top of unbaked cookies.
5. Put in oven 350 degree F (180 degree C) for about 10-12 minutes (I like to slightly under bake my cookies so they remain slightly chewy). Take out and leave to cool on wire rack. .
Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.
Enjoy!
Jillian In Italy 
I just put on a recipe for peanut butter and choc chip cookies but I made mine solely from white sugar! I think i’ll try making them from brown next time because I can imagine it would compliment the peanut butter more! Great post!
Brown sugar always give cookie recipes such a nice rich quality. I try and use it as much as I can and reduce the white sugar (which is so refined and unhealthy!).
What a generous (and perfect!) ratio of chocolate to cookie. I hadn’t realized that peanut butter cookies were such a big American thing, although I’d never thought to look for PB cookies overseas. That’s cute that your European friends were hesitant but ate so many!
Europeans are quite perplexed by the whole peanut butter thing (except the Dutch as they eat their version of it called pindakaas quite often). Sometimes I make these and I only tell after they rave about how good they are that are in fact made with PB! I took a peek at your blog…great recipes!
It’s fun to surprise people! Even if it’s with something as simple as peanut butter. And thank you! It’s my little corner of the internet, but it keeps me out of trouble. :]