(Oh, and I know some of you may have gotten a sneak peek of this post… apparently once you accidentally click publish there’s no turning back. That’s what I get for trying to plan ahead, oops. Sorry for the tease!)
I woke up one morning with peanut butter cups on my mind. The previous week, I had picked up a container of the best peanut butter cups I have ever had, a title previously held by Trader Joe’s milk chocolate peanut butter cups. These new bites, however, overtook the old favorites in a single bite. Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups, oh how I love thy salty goodness. In hindsight, and as delicious as these cookies are, if I had known that the dark chocolate cups would be gone from the store the very next week, I would have cherished each and every one of them instead of chopping them to bits and throwing them into some cookie dough. Hindsight. Whatever.
The cookies themselves are a rich chocolately version of your typical chocolate chip cookie. With more chocolate chips. And then the chopped up dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I also think they’d be good with peanut butter chips and/or chopped peanuts as well. A veritable kitchen sink of a cookie. Which makes sense, considering the original recipe I borrowed called for chopped up heath bars, pecans, and vanilla chips. So I’d say it’s flexible. Go nuts. (Or go chips, go candy, whatever). In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl, cream the butter and the sugars until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter cups and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches in between to allow for spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on sheets for 1 minute, then remove to racks and allow to cool completely.
