Double Chocolate Chunk Peanut Cookies

It is the night before. 

There is a spirit of magic and holiday all around the world.

And in all the feeling of excitement, I am home alone, enjoying a few days of vacation from work, while soaking up the beauty and magic in the air, and catching up on a few lovely things.

One of my very favorite things during the holiday season—besides the cozy late mornings under the blanket, sleeping ins, and the romance of late night movies with many cups of coffee—is baking up a storm in the kitchen.

And on this last month of the year, this is what I am up to.

I’ve not been into much cookie making lately. In fact the last time I posted a recipe on the blog was in November 2012. Yes, two years ago.

So today I am back to share my cookie box and spread a little love. On the night before.

Oh wait, there’s more news. I finally gave in to my love for a stand mixer and went ahead and splurged on a Kenwood kMix kitchen machine in bold papaya—a holiday gift to myself, I have to say! It’s a beauty in my kitchen, the kind that puffs me up with pride to see a top of the range mixer sitting on my kitchen counter. I used the mixer to make this chocolaty PB cookie and she’s pure brilliance, ah. Can’t wait to whip up some macarons and other delicious treats with my papaya beauty.

I’m not in the mood for words, so I’ll make it short and sweet.

If you are a chocolate peanut butter person, then this cookie has your name written all over it. In addition to the chocolate chunks and roasted salted peanuts, there’s also melted chocolate and chunky peanut butter in the batter. The peanut butter adds a wonderfully nutty taste and aroma, while the irregular chunks of chocolate makes them taste so irresistibly homemade with these massive pools of molten chocolaty goodness exploding in your mouth with every bite. 

I’ve used a mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate, which works great. As for the peanut butter, you can use either smooth or chunky butter. It wouldn’t make much difference since you are using roasted peanuts in the recipe anyways. 

Keep in mind that the cookies should seem a little soft when you take them out of the oven. They firm up as they cool, so be careful not to over bake. The longer you bake, the more crisp and crunchy they become. So if you prefer crisp and crunch, feel free to bake a little, just a wee little, longer without burning the cookies and making it hard. The number of cookies will vary depending on the size and thickness of the dough. Make your cookies bigger, if that's how you like them. Just adjust the baking time accordingly. 

Now to the recipe. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Chunk Peanut Cookies

Ingredients

Makes about 24 cookies

Prep 10 mins, baking 10-12 mins

12 ounces (350g) dark chocolate (I used Lindt)

3 ½ ounces (100g) milk chocolate (I used Cadbury’s Dairy Milk)

½ cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup (90g) butter, softened (leave it at room temperature for an hour to soften)

1/3 cup (30g) peanut butter (I used chunky peanut butter)

1 large egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

2/3 cup (100g) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup (100g) salted roasted peanuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C/gas 4). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder until the baking powder is evenly distributed. 

Roughly chop 7 ounces (200g) of the dark chocolate into irregular, bite size chunks, about ½ to ¼ inch chunks. Chop the milk chocolate in the same way, but keep separate.

Melt the remaining dark chocolate in a heatproof microwave-safe bowl on high for about 60 seconds, or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal fork.

With the paddle attachment on the stand mixer, mix the melted chocolate, sugar, butter, peanut butter, egg and vanilla on medium speed for about 15 seconds, or until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Use a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer.

Add flour and baking powder and mix on low speed until just barely combined—don't over mix. Then add nuts, milk chocolate and half the dark chocolate chunks. Mix on low until dough comes together, about 15 seconds.

If the batter is quite soft, cover and refrigerate until firm (about 30-60 minutes). At this stage, you can store the batter until ready to cook, for up to 2 days.

Spoon out heaping tablespoonful of batter and shape them into balls. Place them on to the cookie sheets, separated by at least 2 inches, and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Stick the remaining dark chocolate chunks into the tops of the cookies.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until they've just started to take on a little color around the edges. Remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool and firm up a bit on the cookie sheet, about 2 minutes. Then transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Hope you have an extravagantly lovely Christmas with fairy lights and snowy trees, love and laughter, and plenty and plenty of delicious food.

Happy, happy holidays everyone!

See you soon, Nashi xo