Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Just like you, there are plenty of things in life I can do without. Loads of vacation laundry piled on the mudroom floor. Parents who get out of their car in the school carpool lane {why, why, why??}  Cold lattes and warm Chardonnay. Long lines at the dry cleaners. {srsly, why isn’t a dry clean drive thru a thing yet?!} Dust bunnies under the couch really set me off and don’t even get me started on people that talk on their phones at the gym. Wine in plastic cups, reruns of anything and Starbucks orders that are longer than my six year old’s Christmas list round out my list of not-so-favorite things.  When it comes to food “don’ts”,  the list is looonnng. No sprouts, no olives, no mayo, no onions, easy on the dressing, light on the cheese, and it’s a hard NO to raisins in my carrot cake. Or in anything for that matter. You’ll never see me bake with raisins. EVER.

On the flip side, there is an even longer list of things none of us should do without. Since I’m not tackling world peace on the blog today, the first thing that comes to mind is peanut butter and chocolate.  Now just in case you are in the no-chocolate-with-my-pb camp….hear me out. My two cents might not be worth much, but my love for peanut butter and chocolate cookies runs deep. I’ve been making these loaded peanut butter cookies for as long as I can remember and this match-made-in-heaven combination goes together like no other. To me, eating a peanut butter cookie without chocolate is akin to eating an Oreo without the cream filled center. Or red velvet cake without cream cheese frosting. Chips without salsa. You get my drift. A peanut butter cookie without chocolate is just a naked cookie and no one likes a naked cookie. I’m certain we all agree that peanut butter is good, so why not make it even b e t t e r by adding a generous dose of quality chocolate and a dusting of crushed peanuts. The sweetness of the chocolate balances the saltiness of the peanut flavor and all is right in the world. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, this recipe is as good as it gets. Forget adding a morsel or two to the batch of dough and calling it a day. This cookie has morsels and then some. I’m talking a “go big or go home” kind of cookie.

These cookies are on the larger side and worth every indulgent bite. One nibble and you’ll forget all about whatever it is you were supposed to be doing and instead find yourself standing in the kitchen pouring a tall glass of {almond} milk.  A couple of notes FBR {for best results}. Be sure to leave time to chill the dough before baking off the cookies. If you can stand it, let the dough sit overnight in the fridge. When flattening the cookies with a fork, the dough may stick so give the fork a light spritz of cooking spray periodically. After the cookies have cooled, go to town dunking them in melted chocolate and then sprinkling with crushed, roasted peanuts. Another option is chocolate sprinkles…a favorite amongst the littles.  I’d love to know if you enjoyed these Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie wonders so leave me some love in the comments below. And if you are a big fan of peanut butter cookies, check out my post on the very best Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies.