Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies with Olive Oil

There are few flavours more perfectly mated than peanut butter and chocolate. It could very well be the greatest taste accident of all time. In this recipe I riff on the previous Bon Appetit take on the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Take out the tahini, add in peanut butter and hope for the best. I am quite literally trying this for the first time. Fingers crossed!

Update: These cookies are amazing – I have tested them on colleagues and the eye rolls appeared to be pleasure based.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups (222g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup (97g) extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cups (148g) brown sugar
½ cups (50g) white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon black strap molasses (optional)

2 chilled eggs (120 g)

½ cup (145g) creamy peanut butter – I use a dark roast peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ – ¾ cups of chopped dark chocolate chips OR light chocolate chips

Directions

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 350°F.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch, baking soda, and salt.
Set aside

In a large mixing bowl combine olive oil, all of the sugars (including molasses) and eggs, and vanilla.

Electric blend until very creamy.

Add in peanut butter butter and mix until combined. (Actually, as creamy as possible…)

Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients you set aside earlier. Mix until just combined.
Add the chopped chocolate and either mix in with a rubber spatula, or knead using your hands.

Chill the dough for 2 – 4 hours or (even better) overnight.

Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons of dough into your hands and roll into balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes (for smaller cookies) [16 minutes for bigger cookies…] or until the edges are golden brown.

Sprinkle Fleur de sel on top.

Let cookies rest on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool. Honestly, these are super tasty after they have cooled off – and even the day after.
Ideally, the dough can chill for several days (but be careful! Raw eggs after all…). The dough also freezes just fine.


Colin Newell is a Victoria resident, coffee and technology expert and often-times baker. He knows his way around a dough hook and has infested the internet with his zany ideas since 1995!