Cookie Class (of 2012)

I attended my alma mater’s 2012 graduation recently because I wanted to see a few of my younger friends process. I expected the crowds, the excitement, the crazy, and the dressed up parents loading up their cameras and herding their families into the seats. What I didn’t expect was how OLD I felt. Ok, I realize that I’m not old, but it was weird to see all those kids in their caps and gowns, taking the seats that my class held just one year ago. All that wonderment about the expectations of college and leaving home has slowly faded into a more practical knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of college. I still enjoy the ability to hang out with friends and grab lunch with them at any time, or the countless free concerts and events, but the idea of college as the ultimate goal for the end of high school has changed into the idea of college as a small part in my path to education and success.

Regardless of my own feelings, I was very proud of the accomplishments of my class of 2012 friends. I swear, they grew so much, physically and mentally, while I was away. They won competitions, collected awards, aced tests and grew into themselves, slowly discovering who they are and who they are striving to be. As I listened to the valedictorian give her speech, standing at the same exact podium where I spoke just one year ago, I realized the hardships and adversity that my friends had gone through in just this one year and how well they handled it. Their maturity through tough weather and dark days has helped them blossom into respectable citizens and now, alumni.

The reason I’m getting all sappy and torturing any potential readers of this post is that I baked these cookies as a present for one of my graduating friends. I found the recipe for these Levain bakery copycat cookies a couple months ago at Love from the Oven (by the way, this is an awesome blog and you should definitely check it out!). I’ve made them a couple times since I found the recipe and brought them to various parties and gatherings. They are always well-received. I’ve seen people in the room take two or three at a time and come back for seconds. The only complaint I’ve ever received is that the cookie wasn’t actually a cookie (due to its soft gooey texture) and that it bothered the eater that he couldn’t figure out what it was. My friend probably has eaten at least a dozen of these cookies since I found the recipe and always seemed very pleased with them.

The real reason I decided to make these cookies for him was actually the discovery of a very unique ingredient. I found some turquoise chocolate candies at Wegmans in their amazing candy section and decided I had to give them to him. I don’t know if it’s because he has spent way too much time in a pool or just that he likes the hue, but aqua (or turquoise) is, by far, his favorite color. Instead of just giving him the candies, I decided to bake them into cookies with another special ingredient, peanut butter. He has always told me how much he likes the combination of chocolate and peanut butter (and really… who doesn’t?), so it was an easy and obvious substitution.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter or hald a cup of benecol
1/2 cup peanut putter (preferably creamy)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 & 1/2 tsp salt (I prefer sea salt)
2 tsp cornstartch
1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups M and M's or chocolate chips 
Optional – 1/2 block of semi-sweet or dark chocolate (not unsweetened baker’s chocolate)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. In a large bowl/mixer bowl, cream together cubed butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, until well mixed.
4. Add flour, salt, cornstartch, baking powder, baking soda & salt to butter, sugar and egg mixture until just combined. This should be a very thick mixture, and not sticky. If your dough is still sticky, try adding more flour, 1/8-1/4 cup at a time.
5. Add in chocolate chips and nuts. If you are using a block of chocolate, you will want to grate it and add it in as well.
6. Combine the dough and chocolate chips. My dough was so thick that I had to do this by hand, a bit like kneading bread.
7. Divide into portions to bake. I scaled back a bit from the giant Levain Bakery size cookie and instead of making 12 cookies with this recipe, I made about 18. I worked the dough into balls, and put them on the cookie sheet, leaving ample room between them. I did not flatten the dough out at all. I also did not use a silpat, parchment paper or grease the cookie sheets. I’m a baking rebel when it comes to putting my cookies on the cookie sheets.
8. Put into the oven to bake. For my 18 cookies, each sheet took approximately 10 minutes. Larger cookies will obviously take a few more minutes. Watch them closely and don’t over bake, or you will ruin the gooey wonderfulness inside. I pulled mine out as soon as I saw them start to lightly brown.
9. Let cool and remove from pan.

* A few hints about the addition of peanut butter. The dough is a little bit softer than the regular dough. It remians sticky even after more flour is added. Instead of dividing the dough, I portion it using a large tablespoon (and making roughly 3 dozen cookies) and placed them on cookie sheets in the freezer to allow them to set. Because my cookies were smaller, I baked them for about 12 minutes and they were still very soft and with a perfect, light crust.