Baking with Basil

Chocolate Lovers beware!!  These cookies are dangerously chocolaty, dangerously chewy, and dangerously delicious!!!  I have been searching for a new chocolate cookie recipe for a while.  I had another failed attempt over the weekend but I was hopeful that I would find one soon.  Chocolate was the theme this week for My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats Holiday Recipe Exchange and for some reason I was set on cookies.  I headed over to one of my new favorite blogs, Bakers Royale, to search through her masterpieces.  Everything she makes always looks wonderful and usually they are bite size which I LOVE!!  She raved about how good these were so I gave them a shot and I am soo glad I did!!

These cookies have a slight outside crisp (but not crunchy) and chewy center!  They are basically a brownie in cookie form – kind of the best of both worlds, don’t ya think??!?  I gave Brent a few options for add-ins and he went with chocolate and peanut butter chips, but you could add about anything you wanted and they would be divine!  If you have some chocolate lovers coming over, whip up these cookies.  They will adore you for it!!  Thanks for stopping by!

(Printable Recipe)

Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 8 tbsp butter (1 stick), cut into cubes
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dutch process cocoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups (8 oz) chocolate and peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

3.  Melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate over low heat or in a double broiler.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

4.  In a separate bowl, on medium speed beat sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and beat in chocolate mixture until well combined.  Add the flour mixture and gently stir until just combined.  Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.

5.  Place 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes on pan before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

**My cookies baked for about 10 minutes and cooled on pan for about 2-4 (depending on how long I forgot about them).  Cookies will be very soft when you transfer them.  They will set up as they cool.