Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oat Cookies

When I was a kid, we had a rather long walk to school.  On cold, damp days, Mom would always be pulling freshly baked cookies out of the oven when we arrived home.  I don’t think she ever purchased cookies from the grocery store.  Nor have I.  I kept this tradition going for our children (although I drove them to and from school every day – rain or shine).  I, like my mom, figured the health benefits of my kids coming home to a tall glass of milk and the smell of warm cookies on a cold day (knowing I lovingly baked for them while they slogged away at school) more than outweighed the negative benefits of some sugar and butter.

It’s a cold and rainy day here in Zurich, Switzerland so it just felt like a day for baking one of life’s simple pleasures – chocolate, oat and peanut butter cookies.  Below are step-by-step instructions.  A printable, text-only recipe is at the end.

Gather and measure room temperature butter, peanut butter (unfortunately, grocery store brands work better than freshly ground), white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla and eggs.

Place butter and peanut butter in a mixing bowl.  Beat until smooth with no butter clumps left.

Add sugars and beat until smooth.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Beat until smooth.

Grate or chop dark chocolate using a food processor.

Add oats to the bowl of the food processor, holding some back to add whole to the batter.

Process until the chocolate and oats are finely chopped.  Oats can be done separately or added along with large chunks of chocolate and processed all together.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Add to the bowl.

Mix just until blended.

Add chopped oats, whole oats and chopped chocolate.

Mix until just blended.

Add chocolate chunks or chips.

Mix together.  Dough must be chilled before baking.  It is OK to put the dough in a covered bowl or in a sealed container and chill (or freeze for later use) but chilled dough is more difficult to scoop and often warms up too much during the process.  I prefer to line a baking sheet with parchment paper or plastic wrap.  Scoop dough using a small ice cream scoop so each cookie will be the same size and, therefore, bake consistently.  Line them up tightly.

Chill in fridge several hours or overnight.

Or freeze and defrost in the refrigerator before baking.

Place on un-greased cookie sheets just before popping them into the oven to keep the dough chilled, allowing room to spread.

Bake around 15 minutes.

Be sure to turn the pan in the oven halfway through baking when they are soft and puffed and still raw in the center.

 

To test for doneness, lightly touch the top of a cookie.  It should be slightly crisp but a bit soft.  If crunchier cookies are preferred, leave in the oven a few minutes longer.

Cool on racks.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days or freezer up to several months.

Eat!