Tuesday, September 2, 2008

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

YAY!! It was finally my turn to select a recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie. I literally went through every single page in the book, and wrote down my favorites. I had 9 possible recipes to choose from. I contemplated using a random number generator (dorky, I know) to pick, but then decided to involve my husband in the decision (so I could make sure he helped me eat it!). Initially, anything without a picture was a no-go for him. But ultimately, the draw of peanut butter was too much, and he chose the Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters (what can I say... the man loves his Skippy!)

Oh, hi! Best.cookie.dough.ever!
True to my own heart, I had to incorporate Dorie's suggestion to make an ice cream sandwich out of them. Since the cookies have so much going on, I just went with plain vanilla.


I hope everyone enjoyed making and eating these cookies - I know I did!


Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
From Baking, From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan, page 73.
Makes about 60 cookies
Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers here.

These are three really great cookies rolled into one. They're chubby, crispy, chunky and crackly topped, perfect for dunking into a big glass of milk, dipping into a bowl of ice cream or keeping company with coffee and super for school bags, picnic baskets and kitchen counter cookie jars. The oats and chocolate chips make the cookies plenty crunchy, but if you're like me and think tons of crunchy is only just enough, you'll opt for a peanut butter that's studded with nuts. (I use Skippy Super Chunk.)

~3 cups old fashioned oats
~1 cup all purpose flour
~1 tsp baking soda
~2 tsp ground cinnamon
~1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
~1/4 tsp salt
~2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
~1 cup peanut butter--chunky (my choice) or smooth (but not natural)
~1 cup sugar
~1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
~2 large eggs
~1 tsp pure vanilla extract
~9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Getting Ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips. If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.)

If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Serving: I can't remember when I actually served these. They're more often plucked from a cookie jar than picked from a platter.

Storing: Wrapped airtight or piled into a cookie jar, the cookies will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. Wrapped and frozen, they'll be good for 2 months.

Playing Around: You can substitute soft, moist raisins for the chocolate chunks or just stir in some raisins along with them. If you're really looking for crunch, toss in chopped peanuts too (salted or not). With or without the chocolate chunks, raisins, and nuts, these cookies are great with ice cream or around ice cream - think about them the next time you want a chipwich-ish ice cream sandwich.

50 comments:

  1. The ice cream sandwich idea is fantastic. I haven't even eaten breakfast, but I want to grab a couple of chipsters and reach into the freezer for some Haagen-Dasz! Your pictures are very tempting!

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  2. The dough was wonderful wasn't it?

    Mine only made about 40 cookies, maybe because the dough was so fabulous.

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  3. Thanks for a great pick this week. These were very popular with everyone I served them to!

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  4. These were so good Stefany! (Although I still think regular chocolate chip cookie dough is better.)

    The picture of the ice cream sandwiches is so great! Especially considering that you probably had about 30 seconds to take it before things started getting melty and messy.

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  5. great choice, and i totally love those ice cream sandwiches! vanilla would be the way to go with these cookies, you're absolutely right.

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  6. I enjoyed them so much, what a wonderful recipe! Yours look fabulous! Thanks for choosing these.:)

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  7. Hi Stephany, Your ice cream sandwiches look fantastic! I really must try that for dessert tonight (with the few cookies I have left!)

    Thank you for choosing such a great recipe, we loved it! And the cookie dough was the the best ever! I couldn't stop eating it lol :)

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  8. Thanks so much for picking this wonderful recipe, or should I say thank your husband!!1 I love my skippy too, and I also made ice cream sandwiches! Your cookies look delicious!

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  9. I love that your husband made the final choice! And boy, the dough really WAS the best ever. I licked the beater, the spoon, my fingers...
    Nancy

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  10. This was a great choice! I had to keep slapping hands and fingers to keep them out of the dough so that we would actually be able to try a baked cookie!

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  11. Those ice cream sandiwches are such a great idea! YUM!

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  12. OH my goodness, those ice cream sandwiches seriously look irresistable!!! GAH! They look like those Oatmeal crema filled little debbie pies I used to eat by the box! YUM!!!!

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  13. Terrific choice, Stefany! We LOVE these cookies!!!

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  14. Thanks for the pick this week. No I have a great excuse to buy a cookie jar :-)

    Ulrike from Küchenlatein

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  15. thanks for picking such a great recipe this week, i had no idea i would enjoy these as much as i did. and i agree, one of the best cookie doughs ever! :)

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  16. Dang! You did the ice cream sandwich thing! That's hardcore. They look wonderful.

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  17. Agreed. Cookie dough was so gooood. Love your ice cream sandwiches! Thanks for hosting!
    Clara @ iheartfood4thought

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  18. great choice and love the ice cream sandwiches!! :)

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  19. Your ice cream sandwiches look so good!! I really wish I could have tried the cookies. The dough smelled so good, but I "behaved" for once.

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  20. Love that you got to host BB and TWD so close to each other. That's how it worked out for me too! Thanks for an easy recipe week! I needed that.

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  21. You did pick a winner! The ice cream sandwichs look fantastic.

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  22. Thanks for choosing a fun recipe! I made ice cream sandwiches too, so good!

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  23. thanks for choosing this recipe, love it!

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  24. Thanks for picking this recipe! I have been eyeing since I first laid hands on this book. I was debating on doing the ice cream sandwiches, but I ate them with coffee instead haha

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  25. The ice cream sandwich looks great. Great pick - we love cookies!

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  26. great pick! I took all of these to our tailgate party at church! They were awesome!

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  27. As a first-timer with TWD this week, I thank you whole-heartedly for picking this recipe!

    You're so right about the dough...mmm...it was soo goooood!

    See you around TWD--again, thanks for a great first week for me; these cookies were a huge hit!

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  28. Great choice this week! Yours look fantastic!

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  29. You definitely picked a winner! I love the ice cream sandwich. I'd eat one right now if I hadn't had a filling appointment this afternoon!

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  30. I halved the dough and still got quite a large number of cookies. Nice pick - especially this time of the year!

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  31. These look great. I love the ice cream sandwiches. Thanks for a great pick this week. I really loved them!

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  32. Like the cookie sandwich. All chocolate, all the time!

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  33. I love these cookies. I have made them several times. They are great!

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  34. Can I have one of those sandwiches? Purty please? Great job! They look delicious! Love the pick!

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  35. Love that you made them into ice cream sandwiches.

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  36. Wonderful choice. Thank your husband on our behalf and now I'm off to cram mine with vanilla ice cream.

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  37. Great choice! Don't know that they would last long enough to make ice cream sandwiches.

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  38. the cookies look fantastic. and
    yummm - the thought of snacking
    on the dough.....
    but and it's a big BUT - i'm kind
    of a natural fanatic when it comes
    to the old PB. why can't that be
    used? does something else needs to be altered?

    thanks for any thoughts/suggestions.

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  39. Best. Choice. EVER. Thank you! AMAZING!

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  40. Thanks for the great pick! Your ice cream sandwiches look great!

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  41. Thank you sooooo much for picking this recipe! We really really liked it! I like the ice cream in between!

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  42. I might have eaten more dough than cookies. Great choice! And the ice cream sandwiches look so cute! An excellent excuse to make more. ;)

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  43. That sandwich looks amazing! Nice pick!

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  44. nice call by your husband--this was a great cookie! i bet they were even better as IC sandwiches!!

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  45. thanks for a great pick! it's funny - i thought they were just ok but then could NOT stop eating them!!!

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  46. Loved your chosen recipe pick and your idea to use them as ice cream sandwiches is fabulous! Great job!

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  47. Thanks for choosing such a fun recipe (and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get my version posted). As you can see from my photograph, they were popular.

    I'll miss your participation in the weekly assignments, but I obviously understand "busy". :)

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  48. Hello deliciousness! I'll take one or two or perhaps a whole dozen. ;)

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  49. I managed to get 60 cookies, which is amazing because I probably ate about 10 cookies worth of dough. LOL. these were soooooo good, thanks for sharing!

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  50. I received Dorie's "Baking" for my b-day. Made these cookies to send to my two college-aged kids for Valentine's Day. I added Valentine M&M's just to make them more holiday-ish. My son ate six on the way from the mailbox to his dorm. Daughter said "I'm conserving them".

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