Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies

This post has been sitting in my drafts since last week, oops! I was certain I'd published it. So here it is anyway...

   I've had a case of the Baking Blues recently. Not much in the way of inspiration and a few failed attempts of baked treats over the past week or so. I decided the only way to overcome this was to get back in the kitchen and start again.

   This week I've been working night shifts and I always like to bring treats in for the team on the last night. Someone bought in Amaretto and cherry brownies last night that were just a little naughty, but very heavenly. I felt a little competitive and wanted to make a giant million-tiered cake. I can do cake. That's my thing.

   But, for some (sleep-deprived) reason, I decided to bake something I've only baked once before. Cookies. So easy to make but I never think of making them. I decided to go for triple chocolate cookies with a salty-sweet peanut butter centre. 

Peanut butter & chocolate cookies

(makes 30 small cookies)

     200g unsalted butter, softened

     300g caster sugar

     1 large egg

     275g self raising flour

     75g cocoa powder

     3 big bars of chocolate, chopped into small chunks

     splash of milk

I decided to use a combination of all the half-used chocolate packets in the cupboard from previous bakes and some individual chocolate bars thrown in for good measure. This included white, dark and milk chocolate, some chocolate drops and two Cadbury's Twirls.

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Mix together the butter and sugar until creamy.
• Add all dry ingredients including the chocolate chunks and mix well. The dough will be a little dry so add a splash of milk to help combine the mix.
• Spoon onto a lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes (I layered a spoon of cookie dough, small spoon of peanut butter and another spoon of cookie dough on top).
• The cookies will be soft and squidgy so leave them to cool for 30 minutes until they harden before eating.

My cookies were a little too deep and had more of a cakey bite to them. Next time I'll squish the cookie dough down flatter before baking.