Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was a frustrating day. No need to share all the gory details. Just know that by the time I got home all I wanted to do is let out a scream. But instead of doing some retail therapy and buying myself a little something pretty, I decided to bake cookies for my mom. She’s the one with the sweet tooth in the family and I know how happy it makes her when I bring her a treat rather than just her prescriptions. Besides, concentrating on something else and letting the sweet smell of cookies baking fill my kitchen will also help me forget about the day I had.  I chose peanut butter chocolate chip cookies because I couldn’t decide between peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies. So here you get the peanut nutty taste combined with the soft chewy texture of a chocolate chip cookie.  This recipe yielded 30 cookies  for me.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy style, but the choice is yours.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can use 3/4 cup regular size if you like)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Using hand mixer, mix until creamy.
3. Add peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract. Mix until well blended.
4. Add baking powder, baking soda and flour and mix thoroughly.
5. Add milk and mix until dough is smooth and creamy in texture.
6. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate chips.
7. On a greased or lined cookie sheet, drop small one tablespoon balls of dough.
8. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.
9. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.