Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I’ll admit up front: This isn’t a “new” recipe on Heather Drive. Instead, it is a scrumptious variation on one I’ve posted before. Still, I wanted to share it.

These are so good, in fact, that I’ve made them twice in a week’s time. Last weekend, I made them for my family BBQ at my mom’s on Sunday. Last night, I made them again to take to Michael’s sister’s place when we drove down for a visit. I don’t think I have to tell you how they were received, do I?

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
(Slightly altered version of the Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie from Baking Illustrated)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp. (10 5/8 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
- 1 cup packed (7 oz.) light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 – 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (adjust amount to your taste)
- 1/2 – 1 cup peanut butter chips (adjust amount to your taste)

Directions:

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough (since I weighed the dough, I did 2.2 oz. per cookie) into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (mine were done in about 13 minutes), rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

Makes approximately 18 large cookies.