I have an excellent (and growing) collection of cookbooks. Sometimes they are just as much fun to read as they are to cook from – they often tell vivid stories about the unique lifestyles of those who have written them. And of course, some are worn and dogeared simply because they are totally reliable in the recipe department.

One example of the latter is an old book, Hershey’s Best-Loved Recipes. I’ve made several desserts from that book for this blog already, and it never fails me. I believe there are many cookbooks put out by Hershey’s over the years, and I’m definitely going to purchase a couple more next time I’m at the used bookstore.

But in the meantime, here is yet another winner from this particular cookbook – Giant Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

This recipe is quick and easy – you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already. These cookies are, as advertised, enormous. They’re crispy and not overly sweet – perfect for dunking in milk. Sometimes you just need a ginormous cookie in your life, and this recipe is perfect for that kind of day.

Giant Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Makes 9 cookies

Slightly adapted from Hershey’s Best-Loved Recipes

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, cut into fourths

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add the butter, sugar and peanut butter to a medium bowl and mix until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix until combined.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat until combined.

Scoop 1/4 cup of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Add two more scoops so that there are three cookies per sheet. Press peanut butter cup pieces into the cookies, about 7 pieces per cookie. (This will flatten the cookies slightly, but ultimately they will spread while they bake).

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the outer edge of the cookie is a light golden brown (the center may still be pale). Cool for 1 minute on the sheet, then remove to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2012 at 8:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.