Baked | Chocolate Peanut Butter Glob Cookies

Can you believe there's only a week until Christmas? Me, neither. This year I'm trying to simplify the holidays and focus a little less on gift buying and a little more on all the other traditions that make this such a magical time of year. One tradition that I look forward to every year is baking with my mom. When it's gray and chilly outside there is something so comforting about spending time in the kitchen, by a warm oven with the house smelling of chocolate, peppermint and cinnamon. There is also something so comforting about giving homemade treats to the ones you love. This year I've been busy baking my tried and true favorites along with a few new recipes - all which I plan to share with you in this week leading up to Christmas! Here is a glimpse of what I was up to in my kitchen this past weekend... 

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Peanut Butter Glob Cookies

6 TBS unsalted butter

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

2 eggs 

1 TBS instant espresso powder {you can omit this and they are still TO DIE FOR} 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

3/4 c sugar 

1/3 c plus 1 TBS all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp kosher salt 

1 c whole walnut halves, not chopped 

1 c whole pecan halves, not chopped 

2/3 cup peanut butter chips, such as Reese's 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two backing sheets with parchment.

In a bowl set over simmering water, melt butter and 6 oz of the semisweet and all the unsweetened chocolate, until just melted. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat eggs, espresso powder, and vanilla until combined. Add the sugar, raise speed to med. high, and beat for 2 minutes (or longer), until the batter is thick and falls back on itself in a ribbon.   

With mixer on low, slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Combine 1/3 c flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and fold it into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. In another bowl, combine the walnuts, pecans, peanut butter and remaining chocolate chips, and 1 TBS flour and fold it into the chocolate mixture. With two soup spoon, drop rounded mounds of batter 1 inch apart onto prepared sheets. Bake 15 minutes exactly. Cool on baking sheets

(Photographs by Kristin Kerr for Simply Smitten)