When Smitten Kitchen wrote about Ovenly's salted peanut butter cookies, I was left with an incredible urge to taste them.
Sometimes a recipe, and the story, just calls out to you, and for various reasons, this is one of those I had to make quick. I love peanut butter and I've enjoyed some great PB treats (like these monster cookies and sandwich cookies, for example) but there have surely been times when peanut butter baked goods fall short of the flavor mark and you end up thinking you would've been better off just slathering the good stuff on to your morning toast.
So these highly-touted cookies, which promised intense peanut butter flavor, had to be tried. There was little standing in my way because they only require a few ingredients and hardly more than a bowl and whisk to do the job.
You do need an ice cream scoop. Okay, you don't actually even need that but with all the talk about the shape of these cookies (domed) and the marks on them (striations made from scooping cold dough with an ice cream scoop), I was entranced by the whole thing. Believe it or not, I even went out and bought a new ice cream scoop. For baking, I already had a 1/4-cup scoop and a #50 scoop, which equals to a little over a tablespoon. The large one is usually too large and I've always thought the smaller one was just a little too small! Deb used the #40 scoop (1 2/3 tablespoons) for these cookies and I realized that's what I've been missing so I went out and got one!
I went ahead and added chocolate to these flourless peanut butter cookies. Typical of me. While I know that chocolate probably wasn't necessary per se, I simply can't resist the notion of adding chocolate whenever I can. And the result? As Mary from The Great British Baking Show would say: "these are scrummy!" That would be scrumptious or yummy...in other words, really good!
I was tempted to call these "peanut butter-chocolate truffles" because these little mounds (which look remarkably like large unshelled walnuts, actually) have this fudgy, moist texture very much like a truffle. The outside is firm and slightly crisp, the inside is very moist and a little chewy. The flavor is 100% peanut butter, with a hint of chocolate in my case. If you like peanut butter cups, I think you'll be a fan of these cookies!
So these highly-touted cookies, which promised intense peanut butter flavor, had to be tried. There was little standing in my way because they only require a few ingredients and hardly more than a bowl and whisk to do the job.
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| Grating a little chocolate to add to these peanut butter cookies |
