Peanut Butter Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Sea Salt

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are soft, chewy, and filled with melted chocolate.

So I know you made those soft and chewy peanut butter cookies last week, right?

Aren’t they soooo good?

UH, huh!

Wanna make them again?

I knew you did.

But you need a little something extra, right? Some pizazz. A little sumpin’ sumpin’ to put them over the edge.

I hear ya. And I’ve got just the thing. Dip them in Amish Peanut Butter Spread! (*I kid, but no judgement if you go full Boyle and multiply the peanut buttery goodness to your liking.) No, the REAL extra ingredient is…

Chocolate! Duh. You probably saw that one coming from a mile away.

But here’s the deal. You know those peanut butter blossoms with the Hershey Kiss in the center?

I don’t like them.

There, I said it. Peanut butter blossom loving world, do your worst to me!

You see, I like my chocolate melted for me. I mean, who wants to do the work of biting into that big honking Hershey Kiss. I want the melty chocolate and the peanut butter cookie to shmooze together into one big gooey chewy warm mess.

So instead of a Hershey Kiss, I made little indentations in the center of these cookies then stuffed them with my favorite fair trade chocolate chips and allowed them to get all warm and delightful in the oven. When they came out I swirled the melty chips together and sprinkled them with sea salt.

Boom. Peanut butter cookie nirvana.

These cookies are awesome, but there’s something even more awesome featured in the picture above.

See that adorable little spatula? It’s more than just a cute and useful cookie lifter.

It’s OXO’s Good Cookie Spatula. OXO has managed to make eating cookies even better, because now every time you bake up a warm batch of cookies, you can help support pediatric cancer research. You see, 50% of the profits from all Good Cookie Spatulas are donated to Cookies for Kid’s Cancer, the brainchild of two OXO employees who were inspired by their own son’s battle with pediatric cancer. At the Cookies for Kid’s Cancer website you can also find other ways to help their cause–whether it’s hosting your own bake sale or sending a friend a package of fresh bakery cookies.

UPDATE: While OXO is no longer selling the Good Cookie Spatula, they ARE still helping to support life saving research. Every September (which is childhood cancer awareness month), when you post on social media (a pic of a bake sale, a recipe for your favorite sweet treat, a story of your own – whatever you’d like!) and include #OXOGoodCookies — OXO will donate $5 every time that # is used throughout the month of September.  It’s that easy. And that important. So be a good cookie, and Bake, and tag away!

You can read more about OXO’s “Bake a Difference” campaign here.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies with Sea Salt

Yield: 36

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tablespoon milk (I used Almond Milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• Sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and beat until completely combined. Beat in the milk and vanilla extract.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Once it's mostly combined, turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat until cohesive.
5. Scoop rounded Tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven. Use the back of a spoon to create thumbprint indents in the center of each cookie. Fill with 6-8 chocolate chips. Return to oven and bake for an additional 4-6 minutes or until barely set.
6. When the cookies come out of the oven, swirl chocolate chips with a toothpick or chop stick until they form a pool of chocolate goodness. Sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to set up on the baking sheet for a few minutes then remove and cool completely.

Recommended Products

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• 
  KitchenAid 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
• 
  Nordic Ware Aluminum Baking Sheet (2 Pack), Silver

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Need More Great Cookie Recipes?

• If PB&J is your thing, try these Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies with Jam.
• Peanut butter fans will adore these Triple Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips!
• For a quick easy dessert, try these No Bake Peanut Butter Bars.
• Kids love Monster Cookies. Try my recipe for Monster Cookie Bars or for the holidays, try Chocolate Christmas Monster Cookies!
• If you want the BEST Chocolate Chip cookies, try my Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Though OXO, and Cookies for Kids Cancer products and brands are mentioned in this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own. No one is paying for this post or reviewing this content prior to publishing. NeighborFood retains full editorial control of this content.