The Home Cook: Chewy Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

I'm no gourmet. Not by a long shot. I'm what you'd call a comfort cooker, I like foods that make me feel good...safe, basically anything you can find in an Amish/Mennonite/Pennsylvania Dutch style cookbook. I do like to adventure forth, but my adventures are pretty tame; especially in the world of food blogging where you can find things like artichoke lasagna or creamed brussel sprouts. Those things peak my interest, but leave me more than a tad wary. They all seem like good ideas but when you get right down too it I'm often just not brave enough to go there. (Though I do force myself out there on occasion.)

So it's no surprise that when I want chocolate cookies, I want the recipe as stupid simple as possible. I guess that means it's no surprise that one of my favorite recipes is courtesy the back of the Reese's Peanut Butter Chip bag. I mean really, when you need a cheap chocolate thrill who better to go to than the guys at Reese's and Hershey? I could make cream cheese swirled brownies or chocolate dipped truffles; I could even do cookies infused with white chocolate, macadamias and chunks of quality milk chocolate and sometimes I do just that. But when I want chocolate with peanut butter NOW, I do Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies. A soft brownie like confection with peanut butter morsels, it's the perfect fix. With a minimal amount of ingredients, fuss or time you can have warm soft chocolate cookies with milk. Of course, you can also by pass the cookie step and just freeze the dough and eat it by the spoonful...though I would never do such a thing.

Chewy Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) Butter or Margarine, softened
2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. (Do not over bake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

PAN RECIPE: Spread batter in greased 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350°F 20 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. About 4 dozen bars.

Recipe courtesy Hersheys.com