I have been on a giant cookie kick. It started with the Giant Ginger Cookies I made last week.
It was fun making large cookies since they have a different texture which brings a bit of a different flavor. They are more crunchy and chewy together. Tough to describe, but eat individual cookies and then eat a giant cookie...more cookie...more flavor.
I took out my peanut butter cookie recipe from Peanut Butter Blossoms and didn't think it had the power for a giant cookie. I searched the web and came up with two recommendations for the Magnolia Bakery Peanut Butter Cookies. I decided to mix it up with dark brown and light brown sugar, as well as a few Reese's mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups and milk chocolate chips. Add an ice cream scoop and demerara sugar and you have Giant Peanut Butter Cookies with Dark and Milk Chocolate Chips.
These cookies were amazingly delicious. Loaded with peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! The demerara sugar made them sweet and extra crunchy yet the cookie was thick enough to be chewy. As much as I froze a few for later this week, they are walking out of here much faster than I thought. They were in everyone's lunch today and I've seen them disappear into lunch bags for tomorrow.
Over the next few weeks I will be making a few more giant cookies because I'd like to offer something fun and different for the 12 Cookies of Christmas and I have a funny feeling they will be GIANT!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup of butter, softened
2 cups of chunky style peanut butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 12 ounce package of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips
15 mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups (chopped into sixths)
1 cup of milk chocolate chips
Bowl of demerara sugar (raw sugar) for dipping cookies (about 1 cup)
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. See aside.
3. Cream butter and sugars, when completely blended add the chunky peanut butter.
4. Once the peanut butter is incorporated, add the eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix half the flour mixture into the batter. Add the milk, mix until well blended and then add the rest of the flour mixture.
6. Stir in the peanut butter cups with the dark and milk chocolate chips.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough and release scoop into a bowl of sugar. I use the demerara sugar because of the large granules.
8. Roll the ball until completely covered with sugar. Place on the cookie sheet and flatten to a 1/2 inch thickness.
9. Place up to three cookies on one cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden with cracks on the top. bang cookie sheet on counter to allow the cookie to flatten. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from tray to cookie rack. Makes 24 giant peanut butter cookies.
This recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen and The Singleton in the Kitchen.
