Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

There is a new cookie in my lineup. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour catalog. I love their website and their catalog. They have a great collection of recipes and a great baking blog. We just got a new catalog yesterday and this recipe was inside. I immediately had to try it.

First, I had to find mini peanut butter cups. The catalog had them for $6.96 for a 12-oz bag. That seemed a little steep to me. I vaguely remembered seeing them at Trader Joe's around the holidays, and sure enough, TJs didn't let me down. $2.99 for a 12-oz package.

One tip I would recommend is to keep the mini PB cups in the refrigerator. The first time I tried this with room temperature PB cups, and the mixer smashed them. I quickly shut off the mixer and finished mixing them in by hand and it worked fine. Next time I will chill the PB cups and then hand-mix them into the dough.

• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 c mini peanut butter cups

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

3) In another bowl, (I use a Kitchenaid with paddle attachment, of course0 beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy.

4) Beat in the vanilla, egg, and water, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.

5) Stir in the mini peanut butter cups.

6) Scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each cookie to about 1/2" thick.

7) Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.