Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread
I think these cookies are good. My daughter counts them among her favorites. And, I’m humbled to say even the true Queen of Baked Goods, Rose Levy Beranbaum likes them so much, she will be featuring my recipe in her next cookbook!
That’s an honor I never-ever expected.
The cookie is the most elegant peanut butter cookie you’ll find. It’s delicate, nearly melt-in-your-mouth and almost impossible to stop after one. Or four.
These are great for other reasons, too. Once you’ve rolled the dough into logs, you can refrigerate them for 5 days before slicing and baking. You can also keep a few logs in the freezer. Slice from frozen and bake as you would normally (although it may take a minute or two longer to bake).
Prep note: Room temperature butter matters. By which I mean, in order to get your butter/eggs to room temperature, your room better not feel as if it were a training capsule for Antarctic explorers. Which, living with a British husband, mine often does. That said: Room temperature is considered 65 degrees F. The butter should be cool to the touch, but not warm. If you poke it, your finger will leave an indent, but won’t slide.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
What You’ll Need:
2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (192 grams) creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy All-Natural)
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (345 grams) all-purpose flour (I used Gold Medal blue label)
1/2 cup (50 grams) confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips ( You can also chunk up a bar of chocolate. I also sometimes use a mix of milk and semi-sweet)
What To Do:
1. Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter together until you can’t tell them apart. Add the vanilla until just blended.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients and add it to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough begins to come together–it will still be crumbly. Add the chocolate chips and blend. The dough will still be loose.
3. Dump the dough onto a large piece of wax or parchment paper and bring it together with your hands. When it starts to become a uniform dough, divide the dough into four pieces. Shape each piece into logs.. Roll each log up in wax or parchment paper. You can make it into a cylinder, or gently press down on the log to form a flat side and repeat that 4 times to make a square-shaped log. Place the dough into the refrigerator to rest for 2-3 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and line two baking sheets with parchment.
5. Unwrap the dough and, using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/3-inch pieces and transfer to the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the dough just begins to take on the faintest bit of color. Too brown and they lose their crumbliness. They will still taste good, though. Cool on a rack, then grab one or two to taste and immediately get in the car and drive far away so you do not eat them all.
