Peanut Butter Cookies with a Twist

What’s the twist? Candied ginger and hand-chopped super-dark chocolate chunks. Plus less sugar than most cookie recipes call for. That gives you a deliciously crisp, buttery peanut butter cookie with little surprises of sharp chewy ginger and morsels of the best chocolate ever. And they’re not too sweet.

Last weekend was the kind of weekend when you just want to curl up with a blanket and a book and eat homemade cookies with your cup of tea. It was snowing out, the house was toasty warm and I didn’t have to go to work. Even though we have mostly cut sugar and butter out of our diets, the key to sticking to any kind of healthy diet is moderation and when we do splurge, we make sure to use only the best quality ingredients possible … Anyway, I decided to make a batch of peanut butter cookies we could nibble on and share. Tim delivered plates of cookies to a couple of neighbors, and we shared more with friends who dropped by over the next couple of days. I love baking. I really love sharing the results of my efforts with friends! It’s like, “Please! Eat these before I do!” Heh.

I adapted a recipe from Joy the Baker which seems to be the classic peanut butter cookie recipe.  Here’s the way I made these cookies:

Peanut Butter Ginger Chocolate Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 bars extra-dark Shaman Chocolate, chopped into 1/4 or 1/2 inch chunks *
• 1/2 cup (or more) candied ginger, chopped small
• 3/4 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar, to roll the dough balls in before baking **

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Get your cookie sheets ready (if they are seasoned, you don’t have to do anything. Otherwise, slightly grease the cookie sheets or use parchment paper)
2. Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
3. Use a hand mixer to cream the butter. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute.
4. Add the sugars and vanilla, and beat for a couple more minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each. 
6. Add dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear.
7. Use a large spoon to mix in the chocolate chunks, chopped peanuts and ginger pieces
8. Put the turbinado sugar in a little bowl or saucer.
9. Make dough into balls using your hands. Make each ball about the size of a walnut shell. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the backing sheet, leaving 2 inches between them. Use a fork to press each ball flat, first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction you should have a flattened blob of dough with crisscross indentations.
10. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are a light golden brown. They will still be soft. Cool on racks.
11. Cool the cookies sheets in between batches, to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.

The cookies will be soft and chewy at first, but after totally cooling, they’ll be perfectly crispy/chewy. Lovely with a cup of Darjeeling tea or a glass of cold milk (or whatever milk-alternative you like)

NOTES:

* Adding chocolate is optional, of course, and use whatever brand you like best. I love Shaman Chocolate because not only does it taste better than other chocolate, the profits go to support the Huichol Indians in Mexico. You could also use chocolate chips if that’s all you have, but believe me until you try quality chocolate, chopped by you, instead of chocolate chips, you will never know true bliss. {grin}

** I like using turbinado sugar instead of regular sugar to roll the dough balls in. The sugar crystals are quite large — and they give a nice crunch and mouth-feel to the baked cookies.