Peanut Butter Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cookies
I found this half baked harvest recipe weeks ago & was so excited to make them for Jordan. The boy loves chocolate & peanut butter, so anytime those two items can be delivered to him in a fun way - I’m game. I’m also very game when chocolate + peanut butter can come in something other than a cake form, because an entire choo-pb cake in my fridge is not the vibe. These Peanut Butter Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cookies looked so perfect, and I had feeling they’d fit the bill for a fun late night sweet snacker (spoiler alert - they ddi!). Just oober chocolatey + rich with melted chocolate in the dough + chocolate chunks mixed in, and the closest homemade variation of a Reese’s peanut butter filling I’ve ever had.
The peanut butter filling was made with egg + granulated sugar. Fucking magic + so similar to a Reese’s peanut butter cup. The key (I think) is using granulated sugar as the sweetener - the texture is still kind of crumbly and unmistakably peanut buttery. So good!
Dark chocolate all the way
I modified the online recipe with all dark chocolate (since that’s Jordo’s favorite). So bitter dark chocolate melted in the dough + dark chocolate cocoa power + dark chocolate chips mixed in the dough. Really went for it here!
Go big!
I also made my cookies much bigger than what was picture in the recipe (I used an HBH recipe for Inspo), and the much larger in size bit is definitely the most notable difference. And definitely how I’d do them again because they really turned out so nicely. Total hunkers that require two hands, and these we so good I wanted a big, soft, gooey cookie.
Warning: the dough is sooo sticky. And a little tricky to work with as a result. It’s more of a batter than a dough - like thick brownie batter. The combo of making sure the dough sits in the freezer + making them a little larger made life a lot easier in terms of making these cookies. You need the freezer (no fridge business) to get the dough cold enough to manage, and using a traditional sized cookie scoop about a table spoon in size made assembly so much simpler. Just be sure to work to scale and put a generous amount of peanut butter filling in the center. A thick pb layer is key for that perfect center when break a cookie in half.
Also key - work quick. Have your baking trays out, the oven on, and scoop quickly. Don’t dill dally, because the dough only becomes more of a mess as it warms up. Just be prepared to be a little messy. Go the extra mile and grease your hands with a small amount of canola oil, + that makes forming the dough into disks even easier.
I filed away this recipe to make him a little homemade Valentine’s Day treat…..except I just got around to making them. Worth the wait because they were delicious, very rich + decadent, and very tasty. Totally delish + quite cute with an extra chocolate drizzle and pinch of salt on top.
For the chocolate cookie dough
6 tbsp butter
4 ounce bittersweet chocolate bar (60% cacao at lest) roughly chopped
2 c. dark chocolate chips
3 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. + 2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
For the peanut butter filling
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
For the chocolate drizzle
1/4 c. dark chocolate chips
sea salt
Using a double boiler, melt the butter, chocolate bar, + half the chocolate chips. Stir over medium-high heat until it’s totally melted + smooth. Turn off the heat.
In a separate bowl mix together the egg, sugar + vanilla, whisking until fluffy. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate, stirring the whole time. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, + salt, and stir to combine. Last step - add in the rest of the chocolate chips, + stir to incorporate. Place bowl in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients for the peanut butter filling.
Once you pull the chocolate dough out of the freezer, you will NEED to work quick, so prep your baking station. Preheat the oven to 350 + line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Remove the chocolate batter from the freezer and set alongside your cookie scoop. A tablespoon sized cookie scoop is ideal. Coat your hands with a pea sized drop of canola oil. Begin scooping the cookies, placing the scoop into your hand and forming into a 2.5-3 inch disk (so kind of large, but still fairly thick). Lay on the parchment, leaving about 2 inches between each cookies (I had about 6 cookies per baking sheet). Scoop out the peanut butter - about 1/2 the amount of the chocolate dough scooped out. Form peanut butter into a disk slightly smaller in size than the chocolate cookie. Repeat the steps of scooping out the chocolate batter, forming another disk so that it covers the peanut butter and meets the edge of the bottom chocolate layer. What you can expect - the top chocolate layer will be a little bit thinner to cover the peanut butter and be equal diameter to bottom layer. Place the cookie sheets into the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove the cookies and let them cool. Let them cool on the pan.
Melt the remaining chocolate (for the drizzle) in a double boiler. Drizzle over the cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt. Delish!