peanut butter espresso cookies

I've been thinking of peanut butter cookies lately, but I didn't want to make any I had tried before. They were in between chewy and sandy, and I wanted a chewy peanut butter cookie through-and-through. My option clearly was to come up with my own, and from the first go they were pretty good.

To make them chewy I melted and browned the butter, used all brown sugar and a bit of honey, and used half bread flour. I added my own flavor spin by mixing espresso powder in the dough and rolling the balls in a mixture of freshly ground coffee beans and sugar, hence the "volt" part of the cookies. Next time, instead of adding peanuts and chocolate chips to the dough, I'll add chocolate covered espresso beans.

The verdict is that these were a hit. Coffee tastes surprisingly good with peanut butter, and the cookies retained their chewiness days later (and make an excellent cookie to bring on a run). My one problem is that the peanut flavor wasn't as intense as I'd have liked, but it was good nonetheless and I'm going to come back to the basic formula in the future.

If you try these out, tell me what you think! (Recipe after the jump)

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peanut butter espresso cookies
Recipe by Christina Provo

Makes about 3 dozen

ingredients ~

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts
2 tablespoons whole coffee beans, ground (not too fine, but not coarse)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

directions ~

1. Whisk together flours, baking soda, powder, salt, and espresso powder in a medium bowl.


2. In a large bowl, mix together browned butter and peanut butter with a mixer on medium speed. Add brown sugar and honey and beat for 3-4 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing just until blended. Mix in vanilla.


3. In thirds, stir in flour mixture. When a few streaks of flour remain, mix in chocolate chips and peanuts. Place dough in a container, covered, and refrigerate at least overnight.


4. Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a shallow bowl, mix together ground coffee beans and sugar. Portion 2 level tablespoons of dough out per cookie, rolling to shape the balls. Roll in coffee-sugar mixture. Using the tines of a fork, score crosshatch pattern on top, flattening cookies to about 1/2-inch thick.


5. Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until set (the tops won't look raw) but not thoroughly baked. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies cool for 10 minutes, on sheet, before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.