Break Out the Measuring Cups: Lexi's Peanut Butter-Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whenever I'm interested in buying a new cookbook, I use the "Look inside" feature on Amazon to preview a recipe or two. I'm not actually evaluating the recipes themselves (although I certainly like to get a feel for what types of recipes are in any potential cookbook purchase), but I always check to see if the recipes have weight measurements. The lack of weight measurements -- preferably metric, but avoirdupois will do -- is usually a deal-breaker for me, because I find it so annoying to have to use volume measurements for dry ingredients. I had heard positive buzz about Kelly Fields' The Good Book of Southern Baking last year, but the look inside revealed no weight measurements. So I moved on.

But then my very thoughtful husband surprised me with a copy of the cookbook as a gift, so I broke out the measuring cups. The first recipe I decided to make was "Lexi's Peanut Butter-Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies." They're named after Lexi Fragaso, who ran the pastry program at Fields' restaurant Willa Jean. This recipe is a little different from your run-of-the-mill peanut butter-chocolate chip cookie; it calls for honey roasted peanuts and Valrhona Caramélia milk chocolate, which is caramelized milk chocolate. It so happens that I bought three kilos of Caramélia in the spring, and I've been really enjoying it -- the caramel flavor in the mild milk chocolate is insanely good. 

Several of the cookie recipes in the cookbook, including this one, require you to scoop out the cookie dough and freeze it before baking -- in some cases, for just a few hours, and in other cases, for at least a full day. So you need a significant amount of freezer space. But the upside is that these unbaked cookies can be stored longer term in the freezer for baking at a later date if that's more convenient. 

Other than the freezing step, the recipe is straightforward. You cream room temperature butter with granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt until light and fluffy; add creamy peanut butter; mix in eggs, followed by vanilla; incorporate flour and baking soda; and fold in chopped honey-roasted peanuts and chopped Valrhona Caramélia chocolate. I used a #20 scoop to portion out the dough and got 26 cookies, which is the precise specified yield in the recipe. I froze the cookies for 24 hours (although the recipe says they only need at least four hours).

I baked the cookies straight from the freezer, sprinkling them with Maldon salt before putting them in the oven. I thought the cookies were beautiful, with cracked tops and lots of chocolate, peanuts, and salt visible. And they were freakin' delicious. They had a substantial and chewy texture, and I loved the sweet-salty crunch from the peanuts. But for me the most memorable part was the Caramélia. The chocolate was so smooth and the caramel notes so rich. While I know these cookies would be great with any good quality milk chocolate, I think the Caramélia really does take them over the top. 

 

All of the flavors in this cookie enhance each other and are perfectly balanced. I think these might be the most delicious peanut butter-chocolate cookies I've ever made. And of course I've annotated my cookbook with the metric weights of all the ingredients I measured out, so I can save myself a lot of hassle the next time I make this recipe. I can hardly wait.

 

Recipe: "Lexi's Peanut Butter-Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies" from The Good Book of Southern Baking by Kelly Fields.