After spending a week learning about cooking and nutrition at her preschool, my sweet(ish) little(ish) Landry Kate came home with a chef hat, an apron, and an intensely unwavering interest to help me brownies.

Can we make brownies? Can we make brownies now? [yelling from inside the pantry] I can’t find the box of brownies!

Intensely. Unwavering. Interest.

But only in the “making brownies” part. (Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll focus on Unloading the Dishwasher 101 next week.)

Like any 3 1/2 year old, some of her favorite things are measuring, scooping, whisking, and stirring. And like any human, her absolute favorite part is licking that last bit of batter from the spoon, scoop, or spatula. But not the whisk! You only have to get your tongue pinched once before you realize that thing is the devil.

We made peanut butter cookies last week and as we’re getting ready to scoop out the dough, she throws her hands out and yells in that panicky, shrill tone that sends a mother’s heart into high gear fight mode: Oh, no Mommy! We forgot the chocolate!

Drama. We has some around here.

There have been many times when I’ve joked whether or not she might have been switched with another baby at the hospital. Like that time when she ran up to pet the weird giganti-lizard on a leash at the zoo. [shudder] And that time when she brought me a “brown lady bug” (a June bug). [double shudder] Or all those times she peeled open a quesadilla, ate the meat and cheese and left the tortilla virtually untouched.

But today? When the world temporarily came to a screeching halt so we could pair our favorite chewy peanut butter cookies with some chocolate? Today was not one of those days.

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Chewy Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft, chewy peanut butter cookies studded with chocolate chips.

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.
2. Cream the butter and peanut butter on medium high for 1 minute.
3. Add sugars and beat at med-high for another minute. Add egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.
4. Add flour, baking soda and salt on low speed until thoroughly combined. Mix in chocolate chips (the dough will be quite soft).
5. Chill dough for 15-20 minutes.
6. Drop the dough by the small scoopfuls onto a lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden brown. For a crispier cookie, allow the entire cookie to brown. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

Yields: ~24 cookies

Slightly adapted from The Pastry Queen

Estimated time: 45 minutes