Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies

 I've been away from home for months helping my mom recover from two hip replacement surgeries.  It feels really good to be home, though I still worry about my mom.  On my first day home I surveyed my backyard garden.  There is a LOT of work to be done.  The weeds and overgrowth have just about taken over.  The pathways are barely walkable in my bare feet.  Yep, I like to walk it in my bare feet.  The good news is there will be plenty of blooms for inside.  I didn't allow myself to stay out there today though.  Hubs needs some cookies to really feel like I'm home :)  I pulled out the favorite peanut butter recipe, but felt a little extra touch of mini chocolate chips would make them extra special.  I was right, we both loved them.  If you don't have a blue ribbon, first prize winning peanut butter recipe, you can use mine.  It's pretty much about creaming, mixing and quality ingredients to get a perfect cookie.

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The one ingredient that is added to the prize winning recipe is mini semi sweet chocolate chips.  If you click back on the recipe you'll see some DIY pictures.

Recipe:
1/2 cup real butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon really good quality vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to (350 F)
2. Beat the butters, sugars, baking powder & soda together. 
3. Add the egg & vanilla. 
4. Add the flour. The dough will be soft and fluffy.
5. Fold in the mini semi sweet chocolate chips.
6. Shape the dough into 1" balls.  Place them about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Dip fork tines in sugar and gently apply pressure to the dough ball to flatten out to about 1/2 thick.  I like one set of tine marks, but you can make a crosshatch pattern too.  Put a pinch of sugar on top of each cookie.
7. Bake  at 350 F. 9-12  minutes.  The tops will be very light in color-not brown.
8. Cool on a wire rack.

Now, I must focus on getting the garden back into shape.