Ali Bakes: Peanut Butter Ninja Cookies



The cookies were GONE.  That's right, Brian's super-delicious cheesecake cookies that he had made last week had disappeared by Friday, and that meant trouble in our lil apartment life.  Luckily I had Friday afternoon off of work, so after a refreshing trip to the rec center,  I came home and baked a batch of a new kind of cookie--a cookie of the chocolate-peanut butter variety.  (I had been lacking chocolate in my diet, so I had to be sure to remedy my condition.)

One thing I hadn't really planned for when gearing up to make these little cookies was that they take longer than your average cookie.  The different doughs take a couple stops in the fridge and freezer before hitting the oven.  It's important to follow the fridge/freezer steps carefully though because those steps make things a whole lot easier when forming the sneaky ninjas.

Another point I'd like to make is that my photos for this recipe are horrible.  I'm not blaming anything on my iPhone (It is proving to be decent until I can bite my lip and buy a new camera.), but I'm not satisfied with the lighting in my new kitchen.  My old kitchen opened up into the living/dining room, and in the new apartment...the kitchen faces the bathroom with the bedroom on one side and the living/dining room on the other.  (That means no natural light.)

I messed around with the different lighting options in the kitchen (with Brian's help), and honestly, it looks like I made batches of different cookies.  I *swear* these are all the same cookies, and since practice makes perfect, hopefully my future baking ventures will result in more beautiful images of the scrumptiousness caught on camera.

Peanut Butter Ninja Cookies

*adapted from hungrygirlporvida.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

Instructions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a larger bowl cream the butter on medium speed with a hand mixer.  Add the sugars and mix until creamy and incorporated.  Add the egg and vanilla.  Mix well, making sure to scrape the bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and pulse the mixer in short bursts until the dough just comes together.  Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together the peanut butter and confectioners sugar to combine.  Microwaving the peanut butter for 30 seconds or less helps with incorporating the sugar.  You should have a fairly firm peanut butter dough, but make sure that the sugar has thoroughly permeated all parts of the peanut butter.  Using a teaspoon to scoop, roll generous spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture into balls with your hands smoothing each ball together. Place on a plate and put in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Once the cookie dough is chilled and workable, taking heaping tablespoons full of dough and roll into balls.  Place on a plate and put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes until firm, but not frozen.

Remove cookie dough balls from the freezer and peanut butter balls from refrigerator.  Flatten the cookie dough into disks (make sure your surface is dusted with powdered sugar) and place a ball of peanut butter in the center.  Wrap the edges of the cookie dough around the peanut butter filling and seal it with your fingers.  Roll it into a uniform-ish ball and place the cookies on sheet pans.  (You can flatten them a bit with your hand if you don't like the dome-like appearance of my cookies.)  Place the finished cookies on their pans back into the freezer for 5-10 more minutes to keep the cookies from spreading too much.

Remove the cookies from the freezer and bake for 10-12 minutes.  The tops and edges should crackle a bit and dough will still be soft but dry to the touch.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for a few minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.

Though you can't see, I promise there's delicious peanut butter nestled within that chocolatey goodness.  Trust me.