Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe was adapted from a peanut butter cookie recipe my mom gave me several years ago. It's a favorite in my house. My husband absolutely loves these cookies, and asks for them often. And I certainly don't mind making them for him.

  
It's a one bowl recipe. I add the ingredients in stages. I start with the peanut butter and vegetable shortening, beating them together until they are creamy. Then I add in the sugar and beat until the sugar is fully incorporated into the peanut butter and shortening. Since I use crunchy peanut butter, I prefer to use a wooden spoon and do it all by hand, but you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer.

After fully incorporating the sugar, I add the milk, egg and vanilla, and mix thoroughly. The mixture will be slightly "soupy", but that's ok. Don't panic. Just keep going, it'll all work out, I promise.
Next, I add in the flour, oats and baking soda. Don't forget the baking soda! I have done this. It is NOT a good thing. Haha! The baking soda makes the cookies fluff up, and helps make them light and delicious. Mmm-mmm! Once I've incorporated the dry ingredients, I gently fold in the baking chips. This may take a little while, as it will seem they don't want to mix in, just keep folding them into the dough. They will mix in.
Once everything is mixed together, let the dough rest in the refrigerator. This is an important step. This helps the cookies bake up nice and chewy. I learned this trick from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com. Once I started refrigerating my cookie dough, my cookies started coming out nice and chewy. Which is what I prefer. I usually refrigerate my dough for at least 30 minutes. If you're going to go longer than 30 minutes, make sure you cover your dough or it'll dry out in the fridge. If this happens, don't panic. Just take a damp paper towel and lay it over your dough for about 15 – 20 minutes. This will rehydrate your cookie dough, and you can continue with baking as usual.

After the refrigeration period, take the dough out of the fridge. Preheat your oven to 375˚ and let you dough sit for about 10 minutes. Just so it's not so hard to scoop. Using a one (1) ounce cookie scoop, scoop your dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I can fit 8 cookies on my cookie sheet. You want them to be about an inch apart. They don't spread out like most cookies because the dough is cold. This makes a thicker, chewier cookie. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes, making sure to turn them about half way through baking.
When I take my cookies out of the oven, I set them on top of the stove and let them rest for a few minutes (no more than 5). Then remove them to a cooling rack and cool completely. Enjoy!
I will admit, my cookies don't always make it to the cooling rack. I love fresh baked cookies straight from the oven. When the baking chips are still gooey, and the cookies warm. So yummy! My mouth is watering as I write this!
I made some of these Tuesday. The recipe makes anywhere form 2 ½ - 3 dozen cookies. And they're already gone! And it's only Thursday. My husband, Robin, loves peanut butter cookies, as I said, and asks for them often. After I made these, I asked him to taste. (He is my quality control after all). He loved them. He ate eight the first night! They are quite delicious.
I hope you enjoy baking and eating these cookies. They have become a family favorite in a very short period of time.
Note to self: Bake more of these cookies tomorrow!

Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
1 cup honey roasted peanut butter (I like Peter Pan crunchy)
½ cup vegetable shortening (I use Crisco)
1 cup packed brown sugar (I like house dark brown)
3 Tbs milk (I like organic whole milk)
1 egg
1 cup flour
½ cup oatmeal
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup chocolate chips

 

1. Beat PB and shortening together until blended.
2. Beat sugar into PB mixture
3. Mix wet ingredients into PB mix
4. Mix dry ingredients into PB mix
5. Mix chips into cookie dough
6. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes
7. Preheat oven to 375˚
8. Scoop cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I use a 1 oz cookie scoop
9. Bake at 375˚ for 7 to 8 minutes

 
I don't use a fork to squish my PB cookies. I find it unnecessary. However, if you like this look, by all means go for it!
If you don't have honey roasted peanut butter, you can use regular peanut butter. Just increase the amount of brown sugar by ¼ cup, making it a total of 1 ¼ cups.
I prefer to use crunchy peanut butter. I think it adds a great texture. However, if you like creamy peanut butter. Use it!
I highly recommend playing with this recipe and making it your own. I've made these cookies with just peanut butter chips, just chocolate chips, and using regular peanut butter. All are delicious versions.
Happy baking! Enjoy!