Brownie Laced Peanut Butter Cookies

I was underwhelmed with these cookies.  Don’t get me wrong, they tasted like a fine peanut butter cookie.  However, I really wanted something amazing to happen in my mouth as a result of the chunks of brownie I mixed in, but no.  No explosions of flavor.  Just mediocrity.  Ok, I might be being a little hard on this recipe.  They really are a good cookie.  I would probably skip the brownie next time and just add chocolate chips instead.  I doubled the recipe that I found on bakingbites with no problems.  I bought an 8×8 package of pre-made brownies at the grocery store.  There were plain brownies and brownies with walnuts.  I said to myself (in my head of course) “That would be weird to use the ones with walnuts since the cookies are peanut butter!”.  I get home and realize that I’d BOUGHT the walnut brownies!  I am a smart one.  It turned out not to be an issue at all since you can’t really taste the brownie.

Here is the dough after mixing in the brownies.  The brownie bits break up quite a bit and distribute themselves through the dough.

I used a small cookie scoop, about 1 tablespoon, and 10 minutes was a good baking time.  It creates a crispy outer edge with chewy centers.  They will look undercooked, but take them out anyway.  Unless you like a thoroughly crispy cookie, in which case I would go for 12 minutes.  I always rotate my cookie sheets half-way through because my oven cooks quicker in the back.  Ok, so nothing spectacular here, but a comforting cookie nonetheless.

Brownie-laced Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from Baking Bites)

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, slightly softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cups brownie chunks, in 1/4-inch pieces

  • Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
  • In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and creamy.
  • Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and chunky peanut butter.
  • Gradually add flour and mix until just combined.
  • Stir in brownies by hand.
  • Drop by rounded tablespoons on prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden around the edges.
  • Cool for 3-5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.