One Bowl Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Cookies

Just an hour before bedtime and after a super productive (and quite tiring) afternoon between church/potluck then youth group (which included the baking of a pie crust and making a successful lemon meringue pie which will be blogged about later),  I decided it necessary to whip up a batch of cookies in celebration of my mom's impending visit and because she and my husband are more than deserving of the bite-sized sugary goodness.  I am almost out of chocolate chips (thanks to my week's worth of snacking on them...) so I asked Kevin what non-chip cookie he would prefer.  He answered "peanut butter."  I decided to find a new recipe this time around.  One of the recipe blogs I enjoy had this concoction posted and seeing its ease and the use of peanut butter cup crumbles (which I've been needing to use up for a while now...), I decided to give it a try.  Now, I can't say how they taste at this moment, but they look perfect and delicious. :D  I'll let you know if my husband informs me otherwise. 

[This just in:  "That's an amazing cookie," says husband.]

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose or white whole wheat flour (95 grams)
15 miniature peanut butter cups, frozen and chopped or 3-4 oz milk chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and both sugars. You can use an electric mixer, but Anna used a spoon. (I did too.) Beat in the peanut butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Beat vigorously and thoroughly to distribute baking soda and salt, scraping sides as you go, then add the egg and beat just until it is mixed in. Add the flour and stir, do not beat, until it is absorbed, then mix in the cups.

Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp) or a rounded teaspoon, drop dough onto two ungreased cookie sheets, 10-12 cookies to a sheet. Flatten tops slightly.  (I went ahead and used the fork criss-cross method--typical of peanut butter cookies.)  Bake on center rack, one sheet at a time for 12 minutes or until cookies appear set.

Makes 20-24 cookies