Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was one of those crazy stormy summer days when I made these cookies and I really missed baking though turning on the oven with this heat is the last thing one should have on mind. It's been all about frozen desserts, raw and no-oven-required treats these past weeks and I love it cause summer calls for refreshing things but when the temperature drops a little bit I'm already thinking about baked goods like poundcake and cookies to go with my chai latte. A few clouds, a slight chance of rain and I'm ready to bake!

So it was time for cookies, really delicious cookies with super fine dark chocolate chunks...not the average chocolate chips that you can buy at the store, cause they usually don't have that intense melt-in-your-mouth taste. I had a bunch of chocolate covered peanuts left from my PB ice cream recipe so I threw them into the batter to make the cookies even more irresistible.

A pinch of cinnamon and allspice will add the perfect spicy touch but you can play with other spices and try with a bit of cardamom, nutmeg and of course scrape out some vanilla seeds.

Make these cookies, trust me, they are delicious and will brighten up your day. :-)

Receta en español en la web de El Granero Integral.

Peanut Butter Cookies
(yield: 12 cookies)

Ingredients
1/3 cup peanut butter, natural or salted.
1/4 cup panela (unrefined whole cane sugar).
2 tbsp sunflower oil.
1 tbsp pure maple syrup.
1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks.
1/4 cup chocolate covered peanuts, chopped.
1/2 cup whole wheat flour.
1/4 cup oat flour.
1 tbsp cornstarch.
1 tsp baking powder.
1/2 tsp baking soda.
1/4 tsp salt.
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
1/8 tsp allspice.
3 tbsp oat milk.

Directions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 180 º C (350 ºF).

In a medium bowl stir together  peanut butter, panela, oil, maple syrup and vanilla using a wooden spoon. Make sure all the ingredients are well combined cause the peanut butter is sticky.

In a separate bowl sift together the flours and cornstarch, and add in chocolate chunks, crushed peanuts, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix all ingredients with a hand whisk.

Add in the peanut butter mixture and the oat milk. Whisk until you get a smooth dough.

Scoop one rounded tablespoon for each cookie and place them on the prepared baking sheet leaving enough space between them.

I pressed them down only a little bit in order to get taller and cakier cookies but if you like them more crispy simply make them more flat and bake for 2 extra minutes, but always keep an eye on them! We don't want hard and too-brown cookies.

Bake cookies for 17 minutes or until the bottom and edges are brown.

Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack until almost completely cool and then transfer to the wire rack again.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.