Thanks to the massive haul of various kinds of chocolate chips procured in the States by the amazing and diligent Jennifer, I have gotten slowly back into the baking groove. Nothing new there. “No alarms and no surprises…”

Soundtrack du jour: Radiohead – “No Surprises”

Sometimes it irks me how life is so lacking in surprises. People rarely surprise. It is amazing that a person’s capacity for always being the same but still managing to disappoint is so prevalent. What does that mean? Does that mean that the person being disappointed is a dupe who lives on too much hope?

Because I also don’t take too many detours when it comes to baking, I baked some standards (the famous white chocolate macadamia cookies, mini cheesecakes and Anzac biscuits)… but I also like to mix things up sometimes, try new things, follow through on the promise of doing something different for once. Thus, I have made some maple sandwich cookies with maple buttercream filling, some walnut-honey-cinnamon coffee cake in muffin form, which overflowed onto the pan I had judiciously put beneath them, and finally peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. (Recipes and pics for the new stuff to follow in later entries.)

I do not often make things that include peanut butter, thanks to all the previously referenced rationales. People do not like peanuts and peanut butter that well, and the infamous peanut allergy can also rear its ugly head. Nevertheless, many people do like the peanut butter and chocolate combination, and I decided to use the little mini chocolate chips that were a part of the shipment I received. Verdict on how they taste comes later.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (use smooth or crunchy according to your taste)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 bag of chocolate chips (you can use mini ones like I did or regular size, semisweet or milk chocolate, whatever you prefer)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sift dry ingredients together (flour and soda). Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla together well. Then add egg. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then add the chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoon onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Press down with your hand to make cookie slightly flatter or with the bottom of a sugar-dipped glass.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are set but middle is not quite firm yet. Let cool on pans for a few minutes, remove to cooling racks.