Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

24-28 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons corn starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 + 1/4 cups (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 + 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 + 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the peanut butter cookie dough:

1. In a medium bowl beat the peanut butter and sugar together on medium speed (the mixture will be thick) 2 - 3 minutes until well combined.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Make the chocolate chip cookie dough:

3. In a large bowl whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.
4. In a large separate bowl beat butter with both sugars together on medium until creamy 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture 1/4 at a time. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough may seem a little crumbly - that's normal. Refrigerate 30 minutes - 1 hour.

Bake the cookies:

6. Preheat oven to 375° F. Line 2 cookie sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
7. Form the cookies one at a time: Scoop up a heaping tablespoon of the chocolate chip dough and pat it into a flat, thick disc. Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of the peanut butter dough and pat into a smaller disc, place it on top of the chocolate chip cookie disc. Repeat with the chocolate chip cookie dough and place it on top. Bring the edges together all the way around and seal so the peanut butter cookie is encased. If little bits of it are peeking out that's ok.
8. Place them on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 12 - 16 minutes until lightly golden brown on the bottom for soft cookies, a couple minutes longer if you like them crispier.
9. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store tightly covered in a cool place up to 5 days.

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Super Nuts Biscotti

Ingredients:

1 cup shelled almonds
1 cup shelled pistachios
1/3 cup candied pineapple, chopped
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup candied cherries (I used dried craisins)
1/3 cup dried papaya
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp real vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temp
3¼ cups all purpose flour
2¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Instructions:

1.      Preheat Oven to 350˚F.

2.    Place almonds and pistachios on an un-greased baking sheet and bake at 350˚F for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool to room temp then coarsely chop and transfer to a medium bowl.

3.    Chop your dried/candied fruit into pieces about the size of raisins. Add dried fruit to the bowl with nuts and stir to combine. This would make one fine trail mix; I tell ya what!

4.    In the bowl of your electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat together: 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla on high speed (3 min). Add 3 eggs and beat until well combined (1 min).

5.    In a medium bowl, whisk together 3¼ cups flour, 2¼ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix (with the paddle attachment) until combined. Stir in nuts and fruit with a spatula, mixing until dispersed.

6.    Divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape each piece into a 12″long by 2″ wide by ¾” thick. They can be longer or wider but be sure you stay under 1″ in thickness for even baking. Arrange on a large greased baking sheet, at least 1″ apart. Bake at 350˚F for 25-28 min or until starting to turn golden (they shouldn’t be fully cooked at this point).

7.    Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to carefully slice each log into individual biscotti about 1″ wide. Add a little more grease to the same baking pan(s), arrange cookies evenly over the top and bake 15-18 min or until golden and firm. Biscotti cookies will harden more as they cool.

 

Enjoy it!

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