Cookie Butter & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I'm really missing peanut butter right now.  I made these cookies about a month ago but somehow forgot to post them.  Back when I made them I had a month and half to go, which sounds like a tiny amount of time until this little man will be here, but it sounds like a really long time until I am able to eat peanut butter again.  Somehow the closer I get the more I miss it.  Peanut butter's siren song just keeps calling my name.  I know some of you out there can feel me on this one, right?

To try to fill the hole peanut butter has left in my life, I decided to make my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe with cookie butter instead.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, you can use Biscoff spread.  It is the same thing.  Because I've been craving chocolate lately, I decided to chop up some dark chocolate and add that in as well.

Obviously cookie butter and peanut butter don't taste the same, but they have a similar texture and these were really, really delicious.  The spices in the cookie butter were also reminiscent of fall so these are seasonally appropriate too. ;)

Start out by preheating your oven to 375 and lining some cookie sheets with parchment paper.  The parchment paper isn't necessary, but it does save you from a lot of dishes which I am always a fan of.

Beat together a softened stick of butter and some cookie butter with your mixer on medium-high for about 30 seconds.

Add in some sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder and beat until it's combined.

Crack in an egg and add some vanilla then beat until combined.

 

Then add in the flour and wrap a sheet of plastic wrap around the bowl of your mixer (this is a trick I learned in a cake decorating class to keep it from making a mess).

Beat in the flour, I usually turn it on slowly at first and then once the flour is partly incorporated, turn it up.

Stir in the dark chocolate chunks (regular chocolate chips will work well too).  Shape into balls and place on your cookie sheet.  I used my cookie scoop to scoop them into my hands before rolling so I would have uniformly sized cookies.

I used a fork to flatten them slightly and make criss-cross marks like I would have with peanut butter cookies, but they flattened out a lot when I baked them.  Next time I would just roll them and bake them.  I would also maybe refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or so first.

Bake for about 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned.  These were baked for 9 minutes.  Slide the parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool.

I recommend eating these with a nice cold glass of milk.  Yum!

Cookie Butter & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book Peanut Butter Cookies 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup cookie butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks or chopped dark chocolate

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and cookie butter on medium-high for about 30 seconds.
2. Add in the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder and mix until combined, scraping as needed.
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. Add in the flour, wrap the top of the bowl with plastic wrap if desired, and beat until combined.
5. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
6. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet.   
7. Bake 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned.
8. Put parchment sheet on a wire rack to cool.

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