Nothing goes together better than peanut butter and jelly except for peanut butter and chocolate! It's a fact, right? I have even gone so far as to drop little chocolate chips onto peanut butter toast. It is heaven when the warm toast melts the peanut butter and chocolate together. Do I sound hard up for peanut butter and chocolate or what?! Halloween is upon us and tomorrow evening pounds and pounds of sugar will be consumed by little monsters running a muck on our neighborhoods. Instead of joining the trick-or-treaters and inhaling multiple pieces of fun-size candy bars I decided to make Natural Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Just for the record, I am not a huge advocate of kids mowing down on processed, sugar-filled candy but hey, it is Halloween and who I am to take away the joy of stuffing Snickers after Snickers down the hatch from the little goblins. If I tried to give away apples or carrots I would be known as the weird lady that lives down the street. We don't want that now do we? Plus, I don't want to wake up with toilet paper hanging from my trees or eggs on my front door.
Not only do these cookies take care of a hankering for Reese's but they are also simple to make. There are only six ingredients in these lip-smackin' good cookies. Did you know Reese's are the number one most popular Halloween candy? One of my patients told me that yesterday; she sounded like she had her facts straight!
Natural Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Crazy for Crust's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup of chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate - 60% Cocoa)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease pan with
natural cooking spray.
2. Mix together peanut butter, sugars, egg, and baking soda. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
3. Drop cookies onto baking sheet in 2" balls. Using a fork, gently press down on each
cookie making a criss-cross pattern. Press remaining chocolate chips on top of the
cookies.
4. Bake for 8 minutes or until they start to brown. Cool before removing from cookie
sheets.
I am telling you, heaven in a bite! My philosophy is that your final product is only as good as the ingredients that go in. Make sure to buy a natural peanut butter that is not filled with hydrogenated oils and sugars. Sometimes natural peanut butter gets a bad wrap because the oil separates from the peanuts and you have to stir the peanut butter and oil together before you use it. Just think of it as a 1-minute arm workout! Ok, ok, if stirring is too much for you there are no-stir brands out there and should be available at your local grocery store as well as chains. Also, I am fan of high-quality chocolate. The higher the cocoa content the better for you. If you are a milk chocolate person through and through it is a bit of a transition to dark chocolate. Let me tell you, mixing dark chocolate into a peanut-buttery cookie is about the easiest way to transition into the dark chocolate realm! Happy Halloween to you and your children! Have fun passing out candy or trick-or-treating! I hope nobody wakes up with a stomach ache from too many fun-size candy bars!
