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Note: this post has been in my queue since February, but I made these cookies last night for a change because I didn’t want more raisin oatmeal or oatmeal chocolate chippers.
PBCCO (minus a bite or two)
I don’t usually like or even lust after cookies in a bakery case. That all changed one weekend shortly before Covid hit (I can barely remember before Covid) when, for some crazy reason, I started to crave oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate chips. I had just arrived back in Seattle for a blink before heading to Guatemala, and hadn’t even gone to the grocery store, so I stopped at a fine shop near my house, Macrina Bakery. There in the case were oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies calling my name. I bought one which set me back three dollars. For ONE cookie. Holy smokes! It’s a good thing I don’t do this often and it always bothers me to spend a lot of money on things I can make myself.
I got home and Googled “Macrina Bakery oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookie” to see if I could hunt down a recipe that matched what they sell. Lo and behold there were a lot of riffs of the cookie, so I did my own…ahem…adjusting. Double the chocolate (naturally) and of course I only use bittersweet. And I subbed in a little more peanut butter than suggested. And less granulated sugar. I did stay true to Macrine and made mine huge just like the bakery. I seem to be stuck on making giant cookies.
Why NOT Make ‘Em Huge?!
They are salty, sweet, and crunchy yet chewy in the middle. For me they make a satisfying breakfast on the go. They got two thumbs up from the other person living in my house and from my extended Seattle family, my most honest critics.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (what a mouthful to say and to eat!)
Yield 23-25 large 4-inch in diameter cookies
Ingredients
- 14 Tbsp salted butter (1 ¾ stick) – leave at room temperature to soften a bit
- 1 cup commercial peanut butter (Jif or Skippy, smooth or chunky)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups regular unbleached flour
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats, old fashioned (do not use quick-cooking oats)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Position the oven racks mid oven.
Cream the butter, peanut butter, salt, and both sugars for six minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixer. Add the vanilla and egg and mix. Dump in the flour rolled oats, soda, and mix briefly until combined. Finally, add chocolate chips.
The raw batter is pretty soft. Scoop about ¼ cup batter (I oil my scoop) and place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie tray. I put six cookies per sheet since they spread out. Cover the raw dough balls with waxed paper or parchment and use a smooth circular glass bottom or measuring cup to smoosh them down so that the cookies are about three inches in diameter. When you have two cookie sheets filled, slide them into the oven, bake 10 minutes then switch the bottom sheet to the top shelf and the top shelf cookie sheet to the bottom shelf. Bake another 5-7 minutes until the cookies lose their gloss and are brown around the edges. Remove from the oven, and let the baked cookies rest on the cookie sheets for 20 minutes, then remove them from the cookie sheets to a cooling rack.
Cook’s notes:
I love to cool these and freeze them, then I take a few cookies out at a time and briefly reheat them in my toaster oven at 300 degrees for about five minutes. OR you can form the raw dough balls and freeze them, then take out a dough ball or two, defrost for a half hour then bake on the spot. Add a glass of milk or a cup of tea and enjoy!
My last go around I ground a bit of coarse sea salt on top before baking. I loved this addition!
Finally, I have tried these with fancy peanut butter but I wouldn’t waste the money on high quality peanut butter for these since there are so many other flavors and textures.
