Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

I know there are a lot of learning tools out there for kids, and the majority of them are fabulous.

But one in particular that I'm a BIG believer in is baking.

Getting in the kitchen with your kid is so good for them. While cooking is good, baking is usually my go-to activity with my toddler. Cooking tends to involve raw meat, hot skillets, and knives. Yeah, not quite there yet. :) But baking? Definitely an appropriate learning tool.

Sure it's a little messy. But that's ok. Spilled sugar can always be cleaned up.

I love that my little guy gets to feel different textures, try different tastes (flour = blech, sugar = yum), develop fine motor skills by helping me pour ingredients in, see what happens when you blend these things together, and eventually learn about measurements.

But best of all?

It's full-on mommy/baby time.

And when they're grown? It'll help boost confidence.

Not only do they get to see and taste the results of their work, but they feel validated when mom (and dad too) praises them for helping and doing such a great job.

(Don't worry, I don't serve our baby-handled goodies to other people! They're just for us! lol)

Alrighty, so now that I've thoroughly bored you with my opinions on child-rearing, how about we move on to today's recipe??

Anyone else out there watch The Biggest Loser? (fyi, that new trainer they have this season? Brett? All I have to say is, "Nice job, NBC". Sorry, hun... still think you're super hot... ). Well if you've seen even one season, then you're probably familiar with one of their guest chefs they have on there quite often. Curtis Stone is pretty darn talented, however until today, I'd never tried any of his recipes. I'm not sure why?? Well, I am officially a big fan now.

One of my goals for this year is to try and keep freshly baked something in our kitchen. It makes it feel more home-y, whether it be cookies or bread or whatever. But that can lead to some added poundage, and that conflicts with my other goal for this year. So my mission was to find a tasty cookie recipe that didn't use shortening + butter + eggs + oil that equaled to oh.my.gosh.I'm.gaining.weight.looking.at.them!

Enter Curtis Stone.

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I looove that he used unbleached flour. That's all I use, mainly because the idea of eating bleach just grosses me out. And it works just the same. He used honey instead of oil, only 1/2 cup of butter (unlike my dear Paula who uses way too much), one egg, natural peanut butter, and only a cup of sugar all together.

My thighs are thanking him.

(But don't blame me that they're so good you eat them all in a day. You've been warned).

Peanut Butter Cookies with

Chocolate Chunks

(Original recipe by Curtis Stone)

(Photo courtesy of Curtis Stone)

Ingredients

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup natural chunky peanut butter (about 9 ounces) (We use JIF all-natural, because you don't have to refrigerate it. If you like nuts, go chunky. If not, go creamy. We used creamy, and it was ah-maz-ing.)
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Nestle's semisweet chunks. Saves time)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line 3 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. (I was out, so I skipped this. It didn't make a difference)
3. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, honey, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture in 2 additions.
6. Stir in the chopped chocolate.
7. Scoop about 3 tablespoonfuls of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. (It's going to seem like a lot of cookie when you're forming them. Trust the recipe. You won't be disappointed.)
8. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the cookies puff and begin to brown on top but are still very soft to the touch. (Very important! Don't overbake!)
9. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes.
10. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack and eat warm or cool completely.

Makes about 20 cookies.