If you’re looking for the perfect peanut butter fix, we have it for you today. I’m going to go as far as to say that these are the best peanut butter cookies that I’ve ever eaten, and folks, I’ve eaten a LOT of peanut butter cookies in my life.

These little morsels are silky, smooth and airy with just the right amount of chew. Every bite hints at chocolate without ever taking away from the peanut butter flavor. Unlike many chewy peanut butter cookie recipes, this one isn’t heavy on the palate.  Can it possibly get better than this?

(Actually, it can, but that’s the next post.)

These are my Insanely late because I was buried in self-doubt slightly belated entry in the series known as #WillWriteForCookies. A 30 day adventure in cookie making to support all the insane people who are participating in National Novel Writing month, a.k.a. #NaNoWrimo.

You see, my family is in on the insanity as well. All four of us are working diligently to write a novel by the end of November. If you’d like to follow along with us, check out Will Write For Cookies. I’m also going to urge you to play along and share your cookie recipes throughout the month on twitter, Facebook and G+ using the hashtag #WillWriteForCookies. If a certified non-baker can do this, so can you!

Now: Back to the cookies.

This recipe is an adaptation of My Wife’s Grandmother’s peanut butter cookie recipe. The reason that these peanut butter cookies are different is both because of the chocolate and because we reversed the amounts of baking powder and baking soda used in the original. (My wife tells me her Mamie was famous for getting those ingredients backwards, so she thought she’d give it a try… It was a great plan!)

If you look very closely you can just make out the tiny bits of chocolate in the cookies:

I’m not going to keep you any longer. here’s the recipe. Get in the kitchen and make some of these things pronto!

Yield: 32 cookies

Chewy Chocolate Kissed Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Chill Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter (1 1/4 cup if using chunky)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/3 cup (approximately 1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate, shaved or very finely chopped
• Granulated sugar, for pressing

Instructions

1. Mix butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs together thoroughly in a stand mixer or large mixing bowl.
2. Add baking powder, salt and baking soda into into peanut butter mixture. Mix on low speed for about 15 seconds, then add flour in three stages, with mixer on low speed. Add chocolate and mix until well distributed.
3. Chill dough for one hour.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5. Form dough into walnut sized balls and arrange on cookie sheet with at least 2 inches between balls. Flatten dough balls with a fork dredged in sugar. (Press down twice, once in one direction, then once more, rotating the fork 90 degrees. This will create the traditional checkerboard pattern on the tops of the cookies.)
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Using a small ice-cream scoop to form the dough into balls has several advantages. First, all the cookies will be almost identical in size and secondly, the bottoms will already be flat, so pressing the traditional cross-hatches into the top is less of a challenge, especially with chilled dough.

If you don't have shaved chocolate, you already have the perfect tool in your kitchen. Just grab a potato peeler and go to town! (Hold the chocolate in a paper towel to avoid cuts and keep the chocolate from melting in your fingers.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

32

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 187Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 203mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 3g

What I would have done differently if I’d thought of it at the time:

Not a single, solitary thing. If there’s a perfect peanut butter cookie in this world, this is it.

What? You haven’t made them yet?!? Get in that kitchen. Go! Now!