Some things change: the city I live in / the friends I visit on a lazy weekend / the view from my living room window / my mega longing for California Mexican food / the frequency with which I eat fried oyster po’boys.
Some things stay the same: the endless amount of cookies coming from my oven / my desire to eat every doughnut in town (any town) / my fear of spiders large and small / the hope that you’ll invite me to your house so I can share this giant batch of Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies with you and maybe make a few new friends in the process.
Crisp. Golden. Peanut Butter-y Cookies. AKA How To Make New Friends And Not Be A Weirdo At A Pool Party.
Edible social tools are my specialty.
I wasn’t sure how to tell you that I have a brick-red wall in my dining room so I just took a picture of it. Ok? Ok.
Because the Internet is old and already filled with recipes for Peanut Butter Cookies, we’re going to have to kick it up a notch. We’re adding sex appeal, glossy drugs, and Pin-able charm AKA chocolate (melted, bittersweet, and salted up a bit).
Butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and peanut butter are worked together in a stand mixer. The result is a beautifully cream half-batter that you’ll probably want to aggressively spoon into your face. Right?
Dry ingredients into wet. I always like the middle stages of baking.
The dough is chilled a bit to allow the flour to absorb the liquid of the butter mixture and to just give all of the ingredients a chance to get to know each other. You know… make acquaintance before they all jump in the oven together.
Dough balls are rolled by the tablespoonful into granulated sugar. Extra crunch we love.
Cookies are marked with a criss-cross (jump! jump!) pattern before they’re baked up golden and crisp.
While the cookies are in the oven we melt chocolate and coconut oil, chop up the honey roasted peanuts, and ready the coarse sea salt for sprinkling.
These cookies are sweet and crisp… almost shortbread in nature. There’s a lovely balance of sweet and salt both in the cookie and in the toppings.
I love melted my dipping chocolate with a splash of coconut oil and it helps the chocolate’s viscosity and dip-ability.
Comfort cookies! Wait… aren’t all cookies comfort cookies?
This recipe is inspired by and adapted from Leite’s Culinaria. Love!
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Dipped + Crisp Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
For the Topping:
- 8 ounces dark chocolate chunks
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed. Beat for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract egg and beat on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat until just combined.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring that all of the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish mixing with a spatula. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven.
- Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place about 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl for coating the dough. Spoon cookie dough by the tablespoonful into the palm of your hand. Gently roll into a ball and coat in sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet and use a fork to mark the cookies with a cross-hatch pattern. Place cookies on the sheet about 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir until completely smooth and combined. Place in a small but deep bowl for dipping. Place the salt and chopped peanuts in separate bowls near your dipping area. Dip the cookies halfway into the melted chocolate. Place on a parchment lined tray. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and a bit of sea salt. Place in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate. I bagged my cookies up and store them in the refrigerator. Delicious!
Sue
This is a nice twist on an old favorite being the Peanut Butter cookie. I believe
this cookie would be a great snack/treat here. Thanks for sharing it.
★★★★★
Silvan
Hi Joy,
I made these last year for Christmas (one of three different cookies I made) and these were the most popular. This year I am doing biscuit bags with ten (everybody needs baking goals, right?) different biscuits as presents and I am making these again.
Can I just say that these are my favourite to make, eat and give away. And thanks to you I put on Kriss Kross everything I make them.
I rarely (never?) post, but I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful blog. It’s one of the first ones I came across when I started baking more regularly. I adore your writing, humour, photography and recipes.
Merry Christmas!
Worried baker
Just made these and they came out light and looking just like your pictures. I didn’t put quite all the coconut oil as I was concerned the chocolate wouldn’t harden. And, now I have a tray in my refrigerator as well as one on my back porch (it’s 37o F out), as the chocolate hasn’t begun to harden at all, despite letting the cookies cool completely. How will they fre once back @ room temp? I made them to wrap for Christmas gifts!
Lulu
Baking these right now and for some reason they’re not flattening. Any suggestions? Should I flatten them before I stick them in the oven?
joythebaker
You could flatten them slightly with the heel of your hand
Nuevodiva
Thank you for these little yummy gems! I substituted the regular flour for gluten free & added xanthom gum but followed the recipe to the T. They were slightly dry. Could you suggest ratio of GF flour to Fat (butter/coconut oil etc.)? Thank you!
Susan Swartz
Allergic to coconut. Can one use another oil to help the chocolate’s “viscosity and dip-ability”?
Susan Swartz
Never mind–saw the answer below. Thanks
Kimberly
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Eden Passante
I’m a sucker for peanut butter cookies and I love this take on classic PB cookies! Dipped in chocolate?! Yum!! Definitely going to try this recipe!
Patti
I don’t have coconut oil on hand ,what can I substitute with.
thx, Patti
joythebaker
Vegetable oil should work great
Linda Light
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I wanted to make peanut butter cookies that were both salty and sweet and especially, nutty. You have just validated my cookie impulses! I don’t know why anyone would make peanut butter cookies without chocolate and sprinkled salt and nuts! P.S. never pick an email address when you are having a bad day. See below.
jenniebean10
I made these and dipped them in toffee bits :) they were delicious
Nancy
Gonna make these for National Peanut Butter Cookie Day next week…..can’t wait to try ’em!