Monday
Nov172008
Peanutty Buddies: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies from Peanut Butter and Co.
Monday, November 17, 2008 
When Peanut Butter and Co., a cute little Greenwich Village cafe known for its incredible number of variations on the humble peanut butter sandwich, began distributing their peanut butters nationwide, we were thrilled. We love peanut butter.
When it came to their book The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop
though, we were a bit skeptical. Honestly, why bother with a cookbook when their stuff tastes so good just eaten directly from the jar? Yes, it's true--we're not above eating a spoonful of "Mighty Maple" (delightfully crunchy) or White Chocolate Wonderful (kind of like a white-chocolate Reese's cup, only all smooth and silky) right from their respective peanut butter jars.
though, we were a bit skeptical. Honestly, why bother with a cookbook when their stuff tastes so good just eaten directly from the jar? Yes, it's true--we're not above eating a spoonful of "Mighty Maple" (delightfully crunchy) or White Chocolate Wonderful (kind of like a white-chocolate Reese's cup, only all smooth and silky) right from their respective peanut butter jars.
But somewhere between spoonfuls, a glorious thought occurred: What if it tasted even better baked into something?
And so we consulted the book, and settled on something simple to start: the peanut butter shortbread. While theirs calls for regular peanut butter, we upped the ante by using their Dark Chocolate Dreams variety. These cookies bake for a long time, which allows ample time for the aroma of peanut butter, chocolate, and cookie to permeate the entire house. This is not a bad smell to have permeate your house, by the way. The taste seemed to have three defined layers: upon first bite, one encountered the sandy, slightly salted, buttery bite of the shortbread; then, a moment later, there was the peanut butter; chasing it very closely, a finish of rich, dark chocolatiness. Oh, were they delicious. Here's our adaptation of the recipe:
- 2 cups flour
- 2/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (We used their "Dark Chocolate dreams" variety)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Their recipe says it yields 12 wedges of shortbread, but we did a combination of thinly rolled cookies and simple, small round cookies and got more like 24.
- Prehead the oven to 275. Either grease a 9-inch cake pan (if you want wedges) or just grease a regular cookie pan if you're a rule-breaker, like us.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla til fluffy. Continue mixing, adding the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, until fully incorporated.
- (a.) If you want classic wedges, at this point press the dough into the prepared cake pan, using a knife to score the surface of the dough into 12 wedge-shaped pieces. Repeatedly press the tips of te tines of a fork around the outer edge of the shortbread, creating four concentric circles of dots. (b.) If you want to go your own way, roll them into little balls and then flatten them slightly (like at the top). We also rolled out a few and tried to use a cookie cutter, but the buttery nature of this dough didn't take to that so well. All the same, we did get a few cute Cuppie-cookies.
- Bake for 75 minutes (since we'd broken a rule, we checked it at 60 minutes and ultimately took them out at 65 minutes or so), or until shortbread is a pale golden color (since ours was brownish from the chocolate, we looked for a slight crispness around the edges). If in wedges, allow to cool for 1 hour before cutting. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Cakespy Note: we should add that while the peanut butters are available online at ilovepeanutbutter.com, the shipping can get pricey; you might want to try your local supermarket. We found that they had them at our local gourmet supermarket in Seattle, so we can only assume they're around the rest of the US too!
Reader Comments (19)
PB&Co rocks! I just entered their holiday recipe contest... I'm dying to hear the results.
OMG Chocoalte and peanut butter . What could be better ;)
Wow! That is a long, low temp cooking time for a cookie. Who'd a thunk it?
Like the way you presented the stack of cookies - very cute!
Those look amazing! Love the little cuppie shortbread at the end :)
Love PB anything, especially in the cookie form!
I checked out the PB & Co. website for product. Probably would have paid $6 for PB, but am too cheap to pay the $8 shipping. Imagine my excitement and surprise when I found the dark chocolate peanut butter at Walmart for $3.68!!! I can't wait to bake up a batch of these cookies!
heh heh! ya gotta love the little cakespy dude (dudette?) piped onto the cookie... !
so cute and so yummy! our dear cakespy cuppycake never gets left out too! hehehehehe.
may i ask how did you make the flower on top? :)
Howdy, I just stumbled upon your blog and I LOVE IT (and your artwork too)!! I'm addicted to sweets, so for someone like me, your blog is one of my best online discoveries. It was fun to read about your Chicago cakewalk - last month I created a "North side Chicago Bakery Tour" to go on and visited about 6 bakeries in an afternoon. I have yet to blog about it. I plan on going on more "bakery tours" since my list of bakeries to visit seems to never end!
Seconding "The Courteous Chihuahua"-I know their PB is available at the Wal Mart here in my little town. I've avoided buying it as of yet because peanut butter seems to dissappear in my house without sandwiches or cookies ever being made....
I sure could use a cookie with my "perked" coffee this morning. Could you just pass one across the lines. Please! Oh please...
I just need one until I can try my hand at whipping them up. The recipe sounds simple enough, even for me!
I know what I'm baking this weekend. I'm on a long, tasty trek to find the best PB cookie in the world (best so far is in Baltimore) but this could be a very good challenger.
One note: I know for a fact that Jerry Seinfeld loves PB&Co, as a friend of mine and I were chowing down on the Elvis sandwiches there one afternoon and he was in there with his daughter. Another good reason to go.
ANYTHING in the shape of Cuppie has to rock!
oh my god, i've got that dark chocolate peanut butter in my cupboard! these cookies look great. a little too much temptation, but probably worth it!
The little pink flowers are so adorable on top! I think peanut butter and chocolate are a pair made in heaven.
Bittersweetblog: Ooh, I didn't know about that contest! Good luck!
Dana: From what I have been told, this is pretty common for shortbread--it's a key element in giving it that signature texture. Glad you like the stack!
Snooky Doodle: You said it!
Dietdessert: He was delicious!
Maria: You're right--PB does make everything better!
Courteous: Ooh, good find! I should point out too that you can now buy the PB&Co stuff in supermarkets nationwide. They tend to have it at "nicer" (read: more expensive) supermarkets I think.
Hope you like the cookies. They're pretty addictive!
Lyndsay: Yea! He was delicious!
Eunice: I wish I could say I made the flower topper. I bought them at a cake decorating supply co--they're made of sugar.
Jennie: Thank you!! Let us know when your chicago review is up! Can't wait to hear what you liked!
Xstar: Ha!! Same problem here, but buy two jars--these cookies are worth it!
Louise: Yes, they were VERY easy! The only trick was making sure that they didn't bake too long. Apparently with shortbread you want a slight golden tone on the side but since these were chocolate it was harder to tell.
Armchair: Where is that best cookie in Baltimore?
And yes! That explains a bit about Jerry Seinfeld--he wrote the intro to the book!
EB: Ha! Thanks!
Kickpleat: They're good--but yes, addictive. Make them when you're sure to have others around to share with!
Cakebrain: It's a really nice pairing in these cookies!
They sell them at my local Walmart, so you don't have to really only on gourmet markets!
yummy yummy yummmy