Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love being a mom. Seriously, it's the best. The ONLY thing that I don't love is the fact that I don't have nearly as much time to bake.

It's super sad. I love baking! It's fun! And the results are sooo yummy.

Which is why it's an extra special treat when I actually am able to do it. Especially cookies. They're a fave around here in case you didn't know.

This recipe is one of my all time (if not my absolute all time) favorite peanut butter cookie recipes. They're soft, they're chewy, they're peanut butter, and there's chocolate. I love love love them. Michael love love loved them. Heck even my family love love loved them when I brought some to my grandma's pool. 

(And someday when I let James find out what a real cookie tastes like, he'll love love love these too. And so will you.)

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here it is--my first recipe that I've made and photographed for the blog since that darned first trimester fatigue/nausea hit me. And-of course-the lighting was not my friend. So...sorry about the pictures. Bear with me.

Now the important thing here is HOW GOSH DARN TASTY these are. They're are super duper peanut buttery, very very flavorful-and there's no flour or butter. Lots of winning. Full disclosure, though--forming the dough into balls was THE BIGGEST PAIN IN MY BUTT. They were so crumbly and it was rough. Now-this may be partly because I used PB & Co peanut butter which I thought wouldn't count as natural peanut butter but...maybe it did and affected the texture. I couldn't tell you. But but but seriously they're so yummy.

Michael was a giant fan of these cookies-they got sent in his lunches every day (I love that I'm already well versed in packing lunches before even having given birth) and they were perfect for my occasional peanut butter cravings (which I'm attributing to the fact that I haven't been eating a ton of meat since getting pregnant so I probably needed the protein.) Whatever reason you may have for wanting them, you won't be sorry you made these cookies. Even if you're cursing their existence when you're scooping and shaping them :P

Peanut Butter Compost Cookies {Gluten-free}

Ok before we get into tasty cookie talk...I need to make a confession: I overcooked them. Like...I either didn't set the timer or didn't hear it go off or I don't know what but all I know is that I'm lucky I decided to go check when I did or all I would have had to share today were blackened hockey pucks.

Luckily these cookies still turned out fine (Michael actually likes the fact that they're probably less soft than they would have been if baked for the proper time)-good, in fact. But I haven't overcooked cookies in QUITE some time, so I just needed to come clean about it. Glad that we got that out of the way.

You know what's great about compost cookies? You can pretty much throw in any random stuff you have into them. I happened to stay fairly close to the ingredients listed in the original recipe but that is because I just so happened to need to get rid of some of those things. Like...guys...I have so much shredded coconut. And I rarely use it. And cornflakes--I have them. Rarely use 'em. So, this recipe was super helpful (although, admittedly, I did not use up much of them...maybe I should make 5 more batches?)

Once again we're doing the healthyish cookie thang. Peanut butter and nuts are the main source of fat (and it's a good kind of fat). There's a minimal amount of flour-like substance that is used to help hold them together (I used almond flour, you can use some other sort of thing, or...just regular flour. Your call. But if you use a non gluten flour-such as oat flour or almond flour-then these cookies are gluten free! Hooray!) And um...yeah you get it. I love how chock full of mix ins they are (you almost think there's not enough dough to hold it all but, don't worry, there is!) so they're full of varying textures and flavors. An adventure for your tastebuds! And I def. dub them able to be eaten for breakfast. And cookies for breakfast are as wonderful and miraculous as unicorns.

Puffy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies-Nestle Toll House #DelightFulls Review

Christmas is my favorite holiday.

There's pretty lights. Happiness. Jolliness. Colorful decorations. Gifts. Family. Friends. Fun.

AND COOKIES! SO. MANY. COOKIES! It's the cookie season!

And now we can have even more fun with baking and put a fun spin on favorite recipes thanks to Nestle Toll House DelightFulls Filled Baking Morsels! Just when you thought chocolate chips couldn't be improved!

A couple months ago I spied a new fantastical thing---chocolate chips with...fillings?? It was one of those moments where you think to yourself "THAT'S LIFE CHANGING." and also, "Obviously-why hasn't this already been done?" All I know is when I found out that Nestle Toll House wanted me to play with their new DelightFulls I was SO EXCITED. 

Nestle Toll House DelightFulls Filled Baking Morsels are the same Nestle Toll House chocolate we all love (I mean...guys....they invented the chocolate chip cookie. THAT MEANS SOMETHING.) filled with 4 different flavors! They're slightly bigger than standard chocolate chips (no complaints here) and they even hold their shape when baking. You can use them whole, cut in half, or even chop them up--the ways you can use these tasty morsels are endless (brownies, cookies, cake, candy, hot chocolate, milkshakes...etc.!)

Available in 9 oz. bags these are the 4 varieties of Nestle Toll House DelightFulls:

• Milk Chocolate Morsels with Peanut Butter Filling
• Obviously...these were what I used! PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE. 
• Milk Chocolate Morsels with Caramel Filling
• These are the ones I can't wait to try next, I haven't been able to find them at my local store but I will continue my pilgrimage for gooey caramel filled goodness!
• Dark Chocolate Morsels with Mint Filling
• I'm definitely going to be using these soon, too. Michael and I both adore dark chocolate and mint.
• Dark Chocolate Morsels with Cherry Filling
• I want to use these in a cheesecake sort of dessert for Michael I think-it's right up his alley!

Pssst....Nestle peoples...you should totally make the peanut butter and caramel varieties in dark chocolate, too! Just a dark chocolate lover's opinion :P

Back to Christmas talk: I'm in that very frustrating stage of life in between being a child and having children. I'm unable to fully experience all of my old Christmas traditions, but I don't have any kiddos to create new ones with! That said, Michael and I are definitely already forming new traditions. And this year I will enjoy the last bit of my most time-honored and important childhood Christmas experience for the last time: I will spend the night at my mom's, wake up with my brother, and enjoy Christmas morning being all excited and happy (although we probably won't wake up at 3 AM like we used to--also...the presents aren't gonna be so overwhelming.) Next year Michael and I will be married and I'll want to wake up with him, so this is all a little bittersweet. The good news is, now that I'm home I can take part in other Christmas festivities! My mom and brother and I are actually going to a little Christmas village today. And next week we're going to decorate cutout cookies (which we always used to do as children and I haven't been able to participate in for a long time). And in the spirit of new things...I've been tasked to make cookies for other things. Like Michael's work party. And who knows what else!

I'm really looking forward to, in the next 5 years or so, having little chubby helping hands and seeing little innocent eyes light up and seeing chocolate smeared little smiles in the kitchen with me. I adore baking and I cannot wait to share that with my children, and to share all the love that I bake into every bite!

I could definitely see these cookies becoming a favorite for years to come-especially with little ones. They are a total classic--all the flavors of a peanut butter cup in a big, FAT, perfect cookie! Fresh out of the oven they're so soft and peanut-buttery and when you take a bite and see the peanut butter filling a little bit melt-y inside of the baking morsels....it's simultaneously cool and delicious. Michael loved them. My brother broke his strict diet to eat one and a half (and he forced himself to resist more). I dare any picky eater to not fall head over heels (unless you're not into peanut butter...then...well...not for you, I suppose. May I interest you in a different cookie?) 

Anyway. What I'm saying is: make these cookies. Especially for the holidays (I bet Santa would put you on the extra nice list for LIIIFE if you made them for him, btw.) Get your hands on some Nestle Toll House DelightFulls Filled Baking Morsels. Have some fun. Bake. Experiment. Make traditions! Eat. BE HAPPY.

Fa la la la la.

Browned Butter, Salted, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I mean, come on guys, I've gotta leave you with 1 more cookie recipe before Christmas!

Ambitious Kitchen became one of my cookie idols when I saw this recipe.

Let's take stock, shall we?

Browned butter? 

Check.

Peanut butter?

Check.

Chocolate chips?

Check.

Sea salt?

Check.

Ginormous cookie, chock full of flavor?

CHECK!

I honestly don't know what else to tell you guys. 

These cookies are huge, chewy, and absolutely, wonderfully, perfectly delicious.

Do Santa a favor, and put these out for him (or you could just hoard them away and deal with him giving you coal...I'd say it's borderline worth it.)