I am afraid to be alone in the house right now.
Downstairs in my kitchen is something unspeakably dangerous: Peanut butter chocolate chip shortbread.
Yes, I’m afraid of the cookies cooling on the rack in my kitchen. Because they want me to eat them all. Every crumbly, peanut-buttery, chocolate-y one of them is begging, nay, demanding me to eat them. I created them and only I have the ability to destroy them. Unfortunately, I also have the desire to destroy them.
The cookies are subtle with peanut butter and are addictive thanks to their melt-in-the-mouth texture. A combination of confectioner’s sugar, peanut butter and butter are to thank for that. They are also simple to make. Perhaps this recipe’s saving grace is that you need to chill the dough for a few hours before baking, which means I can’t just run to the kitchen and whomp up a recipe willy-nilly. (Although doubling the recipe and storing a roll of the dough in the freezer would solve that problem. See how insidious these are?)
I found the recipe on the wonderful blog: The View From the Great Island. The woman is a genius. If I were her, I might not bother to come up with another recipe again. Sort of like the Toll House cookie inventor.
My only tweak to her recipe was to replace the milk chocolate morsels she recommends with semi-sweet chips, as I prefer a more intensely chocolate contrast with my peanut butter. Also, I added more chocolate chips than she did. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
If you can’t find me later today, look for me in the treehouse in the backyard. I’ll be the one with the blanket over her head, humming to herself, desperate to avoid the siren song of these cookies.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy All-Natural)
- 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
What To Do:
1. Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter together until you can’t tell the two apart. Add the vanilla until just blended.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients and add it to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough begins to come together–it will still be crumbly. Add the chocolate chips and blend. The dough will still be loose.
3. Dump the dough onto a large piece of wax or parchment paper and massage it together with your hands. As it starts to become a uniform dough, begin to shape it into one or two long logs. Roll it up in the wax or parchment paper. You can make it into a cylinder, or gently press down on the log to form a flat side and repeat that 4 times to make a square-shaped log. Place the dough into the refrigerator to rest for 2-3 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and line two baking sheets with parchment.
5. Unwrap the dough and, using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/3-inch pieces and transfer to the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the dough just begins to take on the faintest bit of color. Too brown and they lose their crumbliness. They will still taste good, though. Cool on a rack, then grab one or two to taste, and immediately get in the car and drive far away so you do not eat them all.
