I woke up this rainy Sunday morning wishing to have brunch with Lindsey, Chris, Elizabeth, and Sam in Denver or Ryan, Anya, Thomas, and Hayes in Kansas City. It’s been three months without seeing family or American friends, and I felt the tug of wanting something thoroughly American. So, naturally, I decided to make chocolate-chip cookies because what’s more American than that? However, I didn’t have semi-sweet chocolate chips and have yet to find a source. I did have a six-ounce bag of Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate baking chunks. At 70 percent cacao, these are not for chocolate neophytes but suddenly I had a course of action: adult cookies with everything pure American. 

These richly flavored cookies, permeated with deep chocolate and peanut butter, melt in your mouth and encourage you to indulge in another. I found myself gobbling down three within the first half hour they were out of the oven. An added bonus is the perfumed deliciousness that saturates your kitchen. 

I am not one to use a scoop or precisely measure cookie dough. I like the hominess of imperfection. Someone recently told me about a school bake sale in which parents showed up with homemade treats to sell. One woman hired a professional baker to produce perfect, over-the-top, decorated cupcakes while the other platters were filled with misshapen ones with drippy icings and haphazard sprinkles. You know the punch line: The perfect ones were the last to sell. Comfort is found in knowing something was made by loving hands.

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 18 to 24 Cookies depending on size
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter (I used chunky but feel free to use smooth)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
6 ounces (about 1½ cups) bittersweet baking chunks

Directions

1. Sift flour, soda, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. Add oats and give the mixture a stir. Set aside.

2. In a mixer or with a hand-held mixer, beat butter with sugars until light, about 2 minutes. Add peanut butter, vanilla extract, and egg and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 more minutes.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate. Put dough into the bowl you used to measure the flour, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least a half hour and up to a week.

4. Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place spoonfuls of dough far enough apart they won’t touch after they slightly spread during baking. Bake until golden brown, approximately 12 minutes. Cool a few minutes before placing on a cookie rack and/or eating.

Title Photo: © azurita