Born to Bake: Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

Posted by Grace Harman

Chocolate and peanut butter: it's the quintessential pairing for any and all desserts. Like Scooby and Shaggy, Thelma and Louise, or Troy and Abed, chocolate and peanut butter just belong together.

I'm super excited to be back to baking cookies. Much to my dismay, my baking trays have been missing for weeks, but luckily for me, they have finally been located and repossessed from their spot on my friend's kitchen counter.

As such, this week I bring you my oh-so-yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. This recipe combines all of the gooey decadence of chocolate chip cookies with the creamy goodness of peanut butter.

These cookies are easy to prepare, quick to bake (only ten minutes) and a breeze to clean up because you only need to use one bowl. To help ease the cleanup, I also like to use Silpat sheets.

If you don't have these or have never heard of them, don't worry, many haven't. I would recommend purchasing a pair--they're worth the investment. Laid on one's baking tray to prevent sticking, Silpat sheets are made of fiberglass and food grade silicone.

Nothing sticks to them, so you never have to worry about ruining a cookie. They are a lot easier to clean than pans--instead of toiling away, scrubbing at charred baked goods, you simply wipe Silpat sheets with a sponge and you're finished. You can also place them in the dishwasher. They're great for rolling or kneading dough on; one would be truly hard-pressed to find something that sticks to a Silpat sheet.

Please, excuse my digression from expounding on the wonders of peanut butter and chocolate. In case you couldn't tell, I take great pride in my baking tools and often feel the need to share the joy...but, back to the cookies: like I said, they're an easy make and an easy cleanup. As an added bonus, they only take about half an hour from start to perfect, gooey finish.

As a quick heads up, these cookies don't spread very much, so make each cookie on the sheet the size and shape you want it to be when it comes out of the oven.

Ingredients:

? cup (1 stick) butter, softened
? cup chunky or smooth peanut butter (I prefer chunky, it gives the cookies a little more texture).
? cup granulated sugar
? cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 ? cups all-purpose flour
? teaspoon baking powder
? teaspoon baking soda
? teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350