Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanut butter. Not just a little though. A L-O-T! I've been on a peanut butter based dessert kick for the last month or so and I came across a recipe on Pinterest that looked awesome so I decided to give it a try. This is a really easy dough to make. Good for beginners... or experienced bakers who are still sore from a killer yoga class ;)  I made a few changes to the original recipe because... well, because I can. I added some more oats and more peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. Less is not always more :)

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Yield: 16-18 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• Reese’s Pieces mini candies, 2 bags**

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

 

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat to combine.

 

Slowly add dry ingredients, and beat just until combined. Don’t over beat at this stage. Stir in oats, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes to make it a little easier to handle.

 

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour Reese’s Pieces candies onto a plate or into a flat bowl.

 

Using a large cookie scoop (3 Tablespoons or 2 1/2 ounces) roll each ball of dough into a ball, then slightly flatten into a disc. Drop cookie dough into the bowl of candies. Gently use your hand to press the dough down into the candies and flatten the dough into a disc, then transfer to cookie sheet and freeze the cookies for 20-30 minutes.

 

Bake, six at a time, for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to darken.

 

Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes. These cookies are very soft, so you really need to let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes or they will break when you try to take them off the sheet.

 

Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

 

Notes:  

 

**I only bought one bag of the candy pieces and I didn't have enough for the last 5 cookies, so I would buy 2 and you can just have some leftover.**

 

**You do not have to freeze the dough, but if you don't these cookies will spread a LOT. If you look at the last picture above that is how much it spread after I froze it.**