Chock Full O Nuts: Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate, Coconut, and Pecans

You already know that Peanut Butter Cookies are delicious. They're a classic. They're a practically perfect food. Don't try to argue. 

And yet.

Sometimes a classic can be improved by adding more awesome ingredients. Case in point: on a recent day, I was testing the recipe for peanut butter cookies to appear in my upcoming second book (it is going to be rad. In the meantime, buy my first book here). 

For the book, I needed a fairly classic peanut butter cookie recipe. But to heighten the enjoyment of some of the cookies from the batch, I threw in a mighty handful each of chocolate chunks, coconut flakes, and coarsely chopped pecans. They looked all nubbly and bumpy and cobblestone-y. In a good way. Here, you can see a tricked-out one next to plain ones.

At first taste, I wasn't sure that the ingredients were quite melding together perfectly. I didn't taste the coconut too much at all.

But then, the next morning, something magical had happened. Overnight, the flavors had magically melded, and where once peanut butter cookies with stuff added were, now was a new treasure entirely. Peanut butter! Coconut! Chocolate! Pecans! It was almost like a peanut butter cookie had a PG-rated makeout session with a Magic Cookie bar. Not like they had a baby, but like some of the flavor had rubbed off. In a good way. 

And for your approval, I submit the recipe. My apologies for not being exact with the quantities, but follow your heart. I'm sure it won't lead you astray. 

Peanut butter cookies

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (mixed—not the kind with oil separated)
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• a mighty handful each: flaked/shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened); chocolate chunks or chips; coarsely chopped pecans

 Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set to the side.
3. Mix the butter and peanut butter. Add the sugars.
4. Beat well, until smooth and creamy. Add in the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir the dry mixture into the wet in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the ingredients are combined. Fold in your extras (coconut, chocolate, nuts).
6. Form the dough into small balls; put on a baking pan. Flatten with a fork, aligning the tines first in one direction and then the other to form a cross-hatch pattern.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden on the edges. Let cool on the pans before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Comments

[LG]

Is the butter salted or unsalted?

[CakeSpy]

LG: in my recipes unless otherwise specified, unsalted.