The men folk in my family are way into the peanut butter and chocolate combination.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it too, but not like these guys.  My default favorite dessert flavors are more in the vanilla, strawberry, or apple directions.  But I digress…  Anyway, the last time one of my brothers got a year older, I decided to find a good chocolate and peanut butter cookie recipe to try out.  I found a good one from Martha, who else, and have a made it a few times since, because it’s just that good.  It’s a little extra effort because the “surprise” means that there’s a special filling inside the cookies.  But it’s worth it!  My brother can testify!

Chocolate Peanut Butter “Surprise” Cookies

slightly adapted from Martha

yields about 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
• 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Method

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, dry coffee, and cocoa.  Set Aside.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream together butter, shortening, white sugar, and 1 cup of the brown sugar. Mix until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla extract gradually and mix until light and fluffy.
3. Add dry ingredients gradually to wet, then mix in the chocolate chips until combined.  Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
4. Mix together peanut butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar for filling.
5. Preheat oven to 350.
6. Spoon chocolate cookie dough onto parchment lined baking sheets 1 Tbs at a time.  Form dough into little cups and fill the cups with a small amount of the PB filling.  Cover up the cookies with more cookie dough and make sure to seal in the peanut butter so it doesn’t leak out.
7. Bake for about 12 minutes.  Remove and allow to cool.