Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

Fun fact: 3 years ago today I married my favorite (aside from James) guy. 3 years of marriage and almost 9 years together (and half a year of parenthood) one of my favorite things about us is what a good team we make. We complement each other and go together like...well...chocolate and peanut butter!

And he appreciates a good cookie. Definite keeper.

There's honestly nothing not to love about these cookies-they're super soft and chewy and FULL of chocolate and peanut buttery goodness-both in the cookies themselves and in the gooey peanut butter and chocolate chips! I'm a major proponent of eating warm cookies (to the point that I'll oftentimes not bother if they're not warm) BUT these ones are still super tasty at room temp. (don't get me wrong...I still liked them warm. But I didn't turn my nose up at the cooled ones either :P). 

They're delish, ok? It's just true. 

Chocolate S'mores Cookies {Insomnia Copycat}-Guest Post at JavaCupcake

I know, I'm posting on a Tuesday, it's chaos!! I'm posting today because I am actually guest posting over at JavaCupcake today and this is NOT one you're going to want to miss!

Have you ever heard of Insomnia Cookies? They're located in college towns and they deliver warm and delicious cookies pretty much all night. I do not live within delivery range of one, however I do live near a town that has one and I've been lucky enough to sample some of their delectable treats and I have a favorite...a favorite that I crave so much that I needed to recreate it at home!

And that is where this recipe comes in! My brother and I both favor Insomnia's S'mores Cookies and I am proud to say that these are almost an exact replica! They're a large, chewy, and super chocolatey cookie filled and topped with melty chocolate chunks, gooey mini marshmallows (which also toast while they bake, adding to the s'mores-iness), and crisp pieces of graham cracker. *sigh* They're delightful.

They're so good that I HAD to share-I froze some to bring to Josh when I see him at his airforce basic training graduation (I also intend to make another batch to ship to him when he's out of basic) and I gave one to our maintenance guy, and one to Michael's work friend Jessica (she may or may not have texted me saying how amazing these looked....meaning I obviously had to be nice and give her one!) And I'm sharing them with all of you PLUS the wonderful peoples over at JavaCupcake--

click here to go check out the recipe and say hi!

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLAAAAATE!!! I love it. You love it. We all love it. And this week's recipes are both full of chocolatey goodness. Huzzah!

But today is today and we're gonna focus on these chocolatey treats: giant, chewy, chocolate cookies with chocolate chips (and sea salt on top because duh)!

To be honest (or "tbh" as the kids say) I kiiind of feel like these could have been chocolatey-er...like...if I'd added more cocoa powder maybe? They were just a touch not rich enough. But I'm also sort of a chocoholic to extreme levels. It's like that super dangerous bad boy that you know isn't good for you but you can't help yourself from being drawn to it...

...sorry. High school me had a bit of a bad boy obsession. I know better now.

About the boys. Not the cookies. If loving decadent cookies is wrong I don't wanna be right! Anyway, other people insisted these had plenty of chocolate, and after eating enough of them I was inclined to agree that they were probably right. And I certainly had no problems with continuing to eat lots of 'em. So there you have it.

Peanut Butter Swirled Chocolate Cookies

First of all: I'd like to publicly thank my amazing cousin and bridesmaid Emily for the little cutting board and plate you see featured here: for my wedding gift (Michael got his own, mainly Batman-related, gifts from her) she got me a ton of food photography props from Fishs Eddy and it was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. So we can all thank her for how cute these pics turned out.

Now, back to the food that is being featured on aforementioned food props. 

Michael needed me to bake cookies for him to bring to work again. And they wanted cookies that involved chocolate and peanut butter. And thus, these lovelies were made!

These are some seriously chocolatey cookies. And they're perfect for gifting or shipping since they're sturdy BUT they're also delightfully soft and chewy when warm. And then...the beautiful surprise...peanut butter swirled throughout. And I may have used chocolate peanut butter for mine because...I mean...why not? Right?

They went over super well with Michael's coworkers but the recipe makes a lot of cookies...so they also went over well with Michael's family a week later at Conneaut. And yesterday when Michael ate the last 2 in his lunch. So...they age well. But I still recommend eating them fresher. Freeze them if you must-they freeze great! 

Now, go forth and eat cookies!

Chocolate Chewies

Allow me to gripe about something wholly un-food related (although you could somewhat blame my love of food for part of this...)--I went shopping for tank tops the other day and firmly realized that it is a difficult time to be a curvy (yet still petite?) girl. 90% of the tank tops were cropped, sheer, and/or possessing an open back or some such where you cannot wear a bra. Y'all...I NEED to wear a bra. And I need to not flash my tummy. And I have 0 idea how anyone can wear those sheer tops because they're too small to wear anything under them and if you don't then...you're just essentially naked? So...anyone who makes clothes that is somehow reading this...do us young curvy ladies a favor and make more tank tops that allow us to wear bras. kthanks.

Speaking of those silly tank tops--my cousin is a twiggy little thing and I complained to her about this, while she nodded and commiserated. Not 3 days later I see her in a cropped tank where you can see her bra and belly! I mean..no big deal but cmon girl, where's the solidarity? Even though she betrayed me I still allowed her to partake in the treats I had brought to our grandma's house for her Memorial Day party-these cookies!

And boy, were these little beauties a hit! One of my cousin's kids ate half of them before anyone even knew what hit them. One of my teenage boy cousins was thrilled when he heard I had brought cookies and I know he ate at least 4. Everyone raved about how chocolatey they are, how they taste almost like brownies...but also sort of like meringues? And they're crisp on the outside and super chewy on the inside...really...they sort of perplexed everyone. But in a "how can this be so tasty?" sort of way.

To be fair-these cookies ARE sort of strange. They're sort of a meringue cookie, but not exactly? They definitely have the whipped egg white thing going for them. They also reminded me a bit of macarons when they baked, because they have those little "feet" and that shiny shell-like exterior. Whatever they are, they're made with only 5 ingredients (egg whites, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract), are pretty quick and easy to make, and they're lovely little bites of bliss. The texture is super unique and addictive and if you like chocolate...oh you'll love 'em!

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies-Cookie of the Month {Chocolate}

Michael's mom's family does a cool sort of Christmas gift exchange, it's called "Kris Kinder". In this exchange you must make something for the person whose name you've drawn. I was like "Uh...I'm not crafty," but once they reassured me that food counts I was on board! And, luckily for me, I got Michael's Aunt Alayne who LOVES chocolate.

Oh...you love chocolate, Alayne? Challenge accepted.

I decided I wanted to make cookies since I knew I'd be busy and cookies are fairly simple to make-plus they're easy to package and travel with!

Then I made this recipe. And they were delicious. And all was right with the world.

Look...I sampled a couple cookies before packaging them up for Alayne. I HAD TO! Quality control people. And I can attest that they are super chocolatey and rich and perfectly crisp on the outside and insanely gooey on the inside. They're everything I wanted them to be. They're even sturdy so absolutely perfect for gift giving! And I was right-Alayne went crazy for them! She insisted I give her the recipe and raved about how incredible they are.

She's right.

AND-as if everything else about these cookies isn't enough, myself and some of my blog friends have teamed up to share a different themed cookie each month! This month is chocolate (obviously) so these beauties fit right in. And here are the other cocoa-licious goodies shared by my fellow foodies:

Chocolate Lava Cookies from Jen's Favorite Cookies
Triple Chocolate Cookie Bars from Crumb: A Food Blog
Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies from The Cooking Actress
Caramel Chocolate Chip Cashew Butter Cookies from Magnolia Days
Chocolate Orange Ginger Cookies from gotta get baked
Peanut Butter Compost Cookies (gluten-free) from Heartbeet Kitchen
Fudgy Kahlua Brownie Cookies from Bake or Break

Triple Threat Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies-Ghirardelli Review

You guys, I dropped everything, changed around my entire post schedule, and did some very last minute things (which usually makes Kayle hyperventilate) so I could make this post happen. Because I was contacted by Ghirardelli about attending a party they are holding here in NYC tomorrow--and, as you may know, tomorrow I'm leaving for Ohio--but I love Ghirardelli and I was so sad I was missing the party but they told me I could try their new new line anyway! So I got my exciting package on Wednesday and used the sweet ground cocoa powder to throw together these cookies on Thursday. Then I wrote this post on Friday. *whew*. Anyway, let's discuss Ghirardelli, shall we?

I'm going to assume you know about Ghirardelli. They make amazing chocolate and I am OBSESSED with their chocolate chips, they're all I use. Today we're talking about something new: they're unveiling a new line of premium baking, hot cocoa, candy making and dipping products with zip-up pouches that are easy to open, use, reseal and store – perfect for frequent bakers and entertainers. (I LOVE THE RESEALABLE POUCHES!) Also, the new products make it easier to take advantage of the small bites/desserts trend that is super fun! Ghirardelli wants to inspire bakers to host a “small bites” party, where friends and family can bring various smaller versions of desserts and cocktails and share! Check out their small bites site for ideas!

What, specifically, are the products we're talking about?

Candy Making & Dipping Wafers

These come in easy-to-use wafer form, ensuring smooth & even melting-and no need to break/chop up bars! It can be microwaved (and even reheated!); and hooray-no tempering is needed, it'll set up perfectly and make amazing candies, dips, fondues, etc. Comes in white or dark chocolate varieties.

Premium Hot Cocoa

The newest flavor, Ghirardelli Chocolate Caramel, joins Double Chocolate and Chocolate Mocha-all made with real Ghirardelli chocolate, vanilla extract, and no hydrogenated oils. These cocoas dissolve easily and have a rich flavor (my kind of hot cocoa!) The Double Chocolate powder can (in addition to hot cocoa drinks) also be used to sprinkle over everything from coffee drinks, iced cocoa to desserts. 

Premium Ground Cocoa

Ghirardelli Unsweetened and Sweet Ground Cocoa have Ghirardelli’s intense chocolate taste in the new re-sealable pouches. The Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is made from non-alkalized cocoa powder and perfect for all your baking needs where you need unsweetened cocoa powder! The Sweet Cocoa Powder has been alkalized using the traditional Dutch process and has the perfect blend of sugar, vanilla and real Ghirardelli chocolate to create a well-balanced chocolate taste. This is great for frostings and brownies etc. etc.--and you can sub it in for unsweetened cocoa powder, just take out 1/2 cup of sugar from any recipe where you do so!

I cannot wait to try out all of the new products!!! EEEE so exciiiiited!!

Wanna try out the new Ghirardelli goodness, too?? Scroll down past the recipe to find out how to enter to win it!

Speaking of the cocoa powders, I've never used a sweetened cocoa powder before, so I thought I'd play around with that a smidge! I used it in these marvelous, fudgy, rich, cookies. The recipe called for "dark cocoa powder" which...I wasn't sure if that meant sweetened or unsweetened, so I took 1/2 cup of sugar out of the recipe and am glad I did because these were perfectly mellow, definitely not too bitter or too sweet!

And why are they called triple threat? Because chocolate is incorporated in 3 ways: cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips! YUM.

What we have are intensely fudgy, chocolatey cookies with a hint of peanut butter, and studded with gooey chocolate chips and, in my case, the perfect bite you get from flakes of sea salt on top. Do you know how I know Michael liked these, too? He tried one and then said, "Oh these are awful. You shouldn't eat any more of them." Ha ha. Nice try bud. Plus he said, "I like sea salt on cookies." Yes honey, me too.

These cookies are not sturdy, they are melt in your mouth, fall apart, delicious. If I drank milk, I would have a big glass with these cookies, because they are quite rich. Which is exactly how I like it :D

(yes...I poured a glass of milk solely for the photos. Then I poured in back in the carton. I dirtied an extra dish so you could have some pretty pictures to look at. That's love. You're welcome.)

Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cookies

It's the case of the missing photos!

...I had an extra picture showing the steps of making these cookies and, sadly, somehow it's vanished. I can't begin to tell you how much this has been bugging me but...I've (mostly) made my peace with it.

Michael's hilarious. He loved these cookies. Thought they were so good.

A week after they're all eaten, he says, "You know what you haven't made in awhile? Cookies."

"Uhh...I just made those chocolate cookies last week."

"Oh...yeah...well...but...no, I mean like cookie cookies."

Ah. Of course.

While these, apparently, are not "cookie cookies", these are some pretty fantastic, uber chocolatey cookies! These are EXACTLY like the kind of amazing, big, cookies you buy at bakeries but are somehow never able to replicate at home. BOOM! Picky Palate solved that problem: You can totally make these at home. Super easy. And there are Oreo's in them. Not like...noticeable chunks. They're ground up. Almost like Oreo powder...yes...I like that...Oreo powder. Cocoa powder, but made from Oreo's.

Someone should market that s#!+

If you drink milk (which I assume most of you are not weirdos like me) these are probably amazing with a tall glass. Just sayin'.