I found bags of chocolate and peanut butter chips combined, and then added some mini-morsel chips too (I love those because you get chocolate chips in every bite). But you can use just chocolate chips or just peanut butter chips, if you want. You could even use Reese's mini baking bits!
I use the decorative bottom of a drinking glass to press down my peanut butter cookies ~ but you can use a cookie press or stamp, if you have one. Once you see how pretty they look using the bottom of a glass, you'll never use the tines of a fork again!
CHOCOLATE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (Jif, Skippy, store brand ~ don't use a brand that has to be stirred)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (plus extra later for dipping glass into to press cookies)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar (I like dark brown)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract…………….………..1/2 tsp. caramel extract
1 large egg…………………………………… ..…1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt…………………………………. .....1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups chocolate and/or peanut butter chips (I like a mixture of mini-morsel semi-sweet and peanut butter chips)
***
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Beat butter with peanut butter (in your electric mixer bowl) until smooth. Add both sugars and mix until creamy. ** Beat in extracts, egg, baking soda, and salt. Mix in flour slowly until well blended and starts to come together around paddle. Stir in chips.
Use heaping cookie scoop to make balls of dough (about 2 TB). Squeeze the balls tightly in the palm of your hand and roll to make balls about 1-1/2" across. Put them onto a cookie sheet. Then go back and be sure that they're all the same size (adjusting larger/smaller as needed).
Chill 30 minutes. TIP: I put all cookie balls on 1 sheet to chill (to save space in fridge), then take them off and set them 12-16 to a sheet to bake. (NOTE: If you don't chill them, they will spread too much.)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Put about 1/2 cup sugar in a small dish. Use a glass with decorative bottom to press down each cookie (dipping it into the dish of sugar first). I didn't press down too hard because I had so many chips in there, and the edges get raggedy when you press down. So, I went back and firmed up the edges a little by hand.
Bake 10-12 minutes, or until just barely brown on the bottom and the top is slightly firm (depends how thick they are). (TIP: I put 2 cookie sheets in at a time ~ so set the timer for 6 minutes, so I could rotate the pans. When I went in at 6 minutes, I tapped any raggedy edges back into place with my fingertips. Then set the timer for the remaining 6 minutes.)
Makes about 2 dozen.