Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I promised you two more deliciously decadent recipes, and this is the first of the two. These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are downright incredible. I may be biased because peanut butter happens to be one of my top 5 favorite foods, but I have tried dozens of peanut butter cookie recipes, and these ones have become a family favorite. 

They are just barely crisp on the outside, and perfectly soft and chewy on the inside. They are incredibly easy to make, and let's just say that doubling this recipe is a m must. It seems like by the time I get the cookies to the plate from the cooling rack, there are only a few left to show, so I double the recipe and bake only what we want, freezing the rest in balls. Because I love to bake (and I mean LOVE) I like to have thing (homemade things) on hand to pop in the oven for unexpected guests (or for whenever I have a hankering for something sweet, which happens to be every night). You can simply take out a few frozen cookie dough balls and bake them up, giving you that wonderful fresh baked cookie without the mess every time.

 I used Smitten Kitchen's (Deb) recipe, changing a few things along the way. I just love her approach to baking. So for those of you who love peanut butter, you should not hesitate to try these out. Check out these adorable measuring spoons I got for my birthday a few months ago...I just love them!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter at room temp

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temp

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 2 tablespoons sugar, regular or superfine

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

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place the sprinkling sugar (the 2 Tbsp) in a bowl. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough into the sugar, and then onto your cookie sheet, leaving several inches between cookies. Using a fork slightly indent cookies with a criss-cross pattern, but do not flatten cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Be very careful to not overbake. The cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not. Cool the cookies on the sheets for a minute, then remove and cool on a rack.