Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies

“Is it a brownie or a cookie?”

This is the question one of my co-workers posed to me when I brought these babies into work last week, to which I promptly responded,

“It’s both!”

He insisted it could not be both; that it had to choose a side. So I retorted,

“They’re more on the cookie side…but they like to be brownies sometimes.”

My co-worker was very much satisfied with that definition, and I am too. These Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies do teeter ever so slightly more on the cookie side of the spectrum due to the fact that they hold their cookie shape well. But when you bite into one, you’re completely blind-sided by how incredibly fudgy and soft their interiors are. You don’t see it coming. They look like innocent little cookies, but they’re hiding a chewy, fudgy secret. Think of them as a baked good of mixed decent.

I used my favorite brownie cookie recipe for this which yields fantastically chocolaty and soft cookies. But I did something extra special: I swirled in peanut butter. Everybody knows that chocolate and peanut butter are BFFs, so obviously, this is one winning combination. Between the smooth, salty peanut butter and those fudgy, brownie-like cookies, these are some seriously delectable little devils.

All I’m going to say is, good luck eating just one.

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

1. You can make these smaller, but the bigger you make them, the softer they’ll be.
2. Don’t over-bake or you’ll lose that wonderful brownie texture.
3. Use more or less peanut butter depending on your preference.
4. Make sure you allow for chilling time. Wait…am I the only one who forgets to do that?
5. You will get your hands messy with the peanut butter, so be prepared.
6. Use parchment paper! I swear, it’ll change how you bake forever.
7. Make sure you try a couple of these babies fresh from the oven! And to achieve that freshly baked taste even after the cookies cool, pop ‘em in the microwave for a couple seconds.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies
Adapted  from food.com

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 1-oz. unsweetened chocolate squares , melted & cooled to room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup + 1/2 cup frozen creamy peanut butter, divided

Directions:

1. Combine sugar, oil, and melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed of an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add about one-fourth of dry mixture at a time to chocolate mixture, mixing after each addition. Drop 1 cup of the peanut butter into the dough in spoonfuls. Mix gently for just a second to incorporate it; do not blend into the batter. You should see the swirls.
3. Cover and let chill at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape a bit of dough into a 1-1.5 inch ball. Separate ball in half and use the remaining 1/2 cup of frozen peanut butter to stick an extra teaspoon or two on top of one half of the cookie. Stick the other half on top, sandwiching the peanut butter in between. Roll back into a ball and repeat with remaining dough.
5. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or just until set. Cool on wire racks.