Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chewies

I know.  You’ve already been to the Well Fed Network.  You’ve scanned the five contendahs in the Best Food Blog: Humor category and you immediately see me.  And then you think, “Wait.  What the heck is she doing there?” and I’d say, “Exactly.”

Because there’s a pretty famous person on that list.  Okay, so even he isn’t winning.  But still.

I’m thinking I can bribe you with cookies — especially because I’m behind on that semi-sort of kind of resolution thing I never really made but have found myself roped in to.  Just because you haven’t seen a cookie here in more than a week doesn’t mean I’ve given up. Oh no.  I’m ready and have cookies waiting in the wings.

I can tell you already, though, that making cookies for my son’s lunch isn’t saving me money.  The routine goes something like this:  It’s Sunday evening (which means last minute, right?) and I think about what ye ol’ larder holds, peruse the unruly contents, then flip open the big cookie book and desperately look for a recipe that doesn’t need butter.  I’m exaggerating a bit, but it has happened, and yes, there are cookie recipes that don’t include butter.  Can you even imagine?  Completely sacrilegious if you ask me.

If I choose the recipe first and then go to the store to shop for the ingredients, I come home with enough groceries to feed half the neighborhood.  This is not cheap. There will never be a day when I “run” to the store only for a pound of butter.  I mean, come on — the grocery store is a far too glittery place. So lunch cookies end up costing a bundle and I might as well get back to purchasing Little Debbies for his lunch.

So I bring you cookies today — cookies made without a trip to the grocery store.  Cookies that didn’t cost me an arm and a leg.  Cookies I’m willing to share to squeeze votes from you, your mailman, your UPS driver, and your distant relatives.

Deal?

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chewies

1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. super chunk peanut butter
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. shortening
2 lg. eggs
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Demerara sugar for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine both sugars, peanut butter, butter, and shortening and beat until well mixed.  Add the eggs and beat until incorporated.

Whisk the baking soda with the flour and then gradually add to the peanut butter mixture on low until well blended.  Add the chocolate chips and mix well.

On a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet, shape the dough into 1-1/2″ balls.  Put the demerara sugar into a deep bowl and roll each ball in the sugar until well coated.  Place on the baking sheet and with a fork, press down to flatten each ball.

Bake about 9 minutes until just set being careful to not over bake.  Allow to rest at least 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring the cookies to sheets of foil on the counter.  Let cool completely.

Makes about 30 3-4″ cookies.

Notes:

• These are chewy with a slight crunch, and pretty tasty.  They’re a bit sweet for me, but good.  My son said they’re another 4/5, so that’s not too bad.  He rationed them all week, and by Friday afternoon, they were gone.
• The original recipe called for “almond brickle chips,” and there’s no way I had those, but I did spend quite a bit of time searching for a recipe so I could make them and then add them to the cookies.  I know.  Quite the Martha coming out in me.  Although I did find a recipe, and I actually made it (oh, jeez was it delicious — all caramelly with almonds in it…) but it never hardened.  I should have known this, but that’s what I get for putting off my responsibilities, right?  It was more of a sauce for ice cream, and I did spoon some over a few cookies, sampling and really enjoying the salty caramel contrast to the sweetness of the cookie, but there was no way these things would last all week and make it to school.  Plus, I wasn’t thrilled with the way it looked.  The good thing is now I have a great caramel recipe I’m sure I’ll find something to work it into.
• Demerara sugar is a large crystal raw sugar.  It’s slightly golden in color and tastes slightly of molasses. I like the way it tastes in my coffee, but had it because of some Donna Hay recipes I was trying.
• These flatten out quite a bit more than the chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies I made recently, so the fork flattening that distinguishes peanut butter cookies is almost non-existent.  You know — if that matters.  Because you just never know.