PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

On our trip to Virginia recently, I couldn't pass up buying a cookbook I saw called Virginia Bed & Breakfast Cookbook from the Warmth & Hospitality of 94 Virginia B & B's and Country Inns collected by Melissa Craven. Besides having all of the recipes, they share information and personal notes from the B & B that serves the dish. (I often think I would like having a B & B and then I remember I like to "go" to much. lol)

We got back from being away two and a half weeks on a Sunday night late. Tuesday morning I had to be at Hillcrest Thrift Shop to work my usual first shift at the register downstairs. I looked through the cookbook and decided these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies would be just perfect. (I actually bought the cookbook for this recipe. The combination of ingredients sounded like they would be a hit. And they were.) 

I did make one major change because I wasn't totally happy with how the baked cookie looked. I am sharing that change in the recipe below.

The recipe is one from Harmony Hill, a B & B that "offers country comforts in a contemporary log home, set on 17 acres of rolling farmland in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains". (939 Wilson Hill Road, Arrington, VA 22922). The Innkeeper says, "These delicious cookies free well. For variety, try using half white chocolate chips."

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2       cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1        cup all-purpose flour
1/2    teaspoon salt
1        teaspoon baking powder
1        cup chunky peanut butter
1        stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2    cup packed light brown sugar (I used 1/4 cup brown sugar blend)
1/2    cup white sugar (I used 1/4 cup sugar/stevia blend)
3       large eggs, room temperature
1        tablespoon vanilla
2       cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I had 60% dark cacao chips)
1-1/2 cups shredded coconut (I did use unsweetened coconuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, salt, and baking powder. Set it aside.

In a large bowl, with a mixer at medium speed, beat peanut butter, butter, and sugars.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Gradually beat in oat mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips and coconut by hand.

Measure dough by heaping tablespoons and spaced about 1 - inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used a cookie scoop that measures a tablespoon of water and rounded the dough in it. I then rolled the dough in my hand to make it smooth and flattened it on the cookie sheet. I also lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper. This way the cookies didn't burn around the edges and on the bottom.)

Bake 15 - 18 minutes. (Using the parchment paper will require most of the 18 minutes.) Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.