I finally found a recipe for peanut butter cookies that are actually very chewy and perfect for making ice cream sandwich cookies! The recipe is also super easy and doesn't call for a ton of butter, which makes it less expensive. Here's a picture of some cookies from yesterday. They are so good, and the dough doesn't require an overnight chill (though usually do it anyway).
Perfect for Ice Cream Sandwiches
I first made these hoping for a cookie sturdy enough to stand up to ice cream without being too hard or crumbly when frozen. Most peanut butter cookies either spread too thin or bake up with a sandy texture that's great on its own but not ideal for sandwiches. These stay thick, have a pleasantly chewy center, and soften just enough in the freezer to bite through easily.
Bread & Cake Flour Plus Honey
The recipe is a riff on some America's Test Kitchen's cookies, but instead of using all-purpose flour I use a mixture of bread and cake. Feel free to use all-purpose, but if you do you may want to use King Arthur since its extra protein could give you some chewiness. The honey is the other key ingredient for chewiness, and I do not think its flavor overshadows the peanut butter. If anything, it complements and enhances it. But it could also have to do with brands of honey. Some are stronger than others, so if you want less honey flavor you could use 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon corn or golden syrup.
Economical and Not Heavy on Butter
Another thing I like about this recipe is that it's surprisingly economical. It uses just 4 tablespoons of butter, relying mostly on peanut butter for richness and flavor. With grocery prices the way they are, I appreciate recipes that don't require two sticks of butter to make a batch of cookies, especially when the results are this good.
Until now my go-to was an old recipe from Food Editor's Favorites, which makes very thin and chewy cookies. I still like that one too, but I think this one is just as good and makes thicker cookies. The fact that it doubles as an excellent ice cream sandwich cookie is a bonus. I've been sandwiching them with peanut butter ice cream, but vanilla would be good too. Banana pudding flavored ice cream would also be great with these.
Recipe
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with Honey
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (210 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, Morton
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (260 grams)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (56 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar (300 grams)
- 2 tablespoons honey (40 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup lightly salted or unsalted peanuts, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling or rolling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. If using convection, preheat to 330F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, melted butter and vanilla until until combined. Beat in the sugar and honey, then beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add flour mixture and peanuts and stir to make a soft dough.
- Scoop the dough with a medium size cookie scoop onto the lined sheet pans, spacing 2 1 /2 inches apart. Sprinkle dough balls lightly with extra sugar, then use a fork to press down lightly making a cross-hatch pattern. If you don't want to use the extra sugar, you can dampen the fork with a little water.
- Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes. Halfway through the bake, remove the pan from the oven and rap it gently but firmly against the counter to deflate cookies.
- Slide parchment with cookies onto the counter and let cool for 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
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