Flat Stanley Made Me Do It: Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

These past couple of weeks, I have been treated to a visit by Flat Stanley. Hailing from Herriman, Utah, Flat Stanley made his way to me via a very special friend, Teauna, who is in the 1st grade (if you don't know who Flat Stanley is, you must not have the privilege to know any 1st graders). And what fun we've been having! Stanley has gotten his fill of adventures, and will return home with lots of great stories and mementos.

And of course, Stanley got to spend some quality time with me in the kitchen and writing this blog. But somehow, my normal fare wasn't all that appealing to the flat little dude (Brussels sprouts didn't get a ringing endorsement, even with the addition of bacon! Kids these days....). So we embarked on a kitchen adventure to make something out of MY comfort zone, but that would have some wider kid-appeal: COOKIES!

I chose to make peanut butter cookies because they were easy (no rolling, cutting or complicated directions), and I could fancy them up a bit with a simple dunk in melted chocolate. I tweaked the recipe to have even more peanutty goodness flavor, because, well... why not?

So here you have it - REALLY tasty, quick and easy cookies. I might even make them again in the future. Will wonders never cease?

And thanks Flat Stanley - it's been a blast having you as my guest!

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from a recipe by Cathy Lowe

• 1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup additional to roll cookies
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup dry roasted and salted peanuts, chopped (optional)
• 18 ounces of chocolate chips (1 1/2 packages)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg to mixture. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in salt, baking soda, flour and chopped peanuts until well combined. Scoop dough with an ice cream scooper to obtain uniform shape. Roll into a ball, then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and flatten. Bake for 12-15 minutes; remove and let cookies cool completely on a rack.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. When cookies have cooled completely, dip one side into the melted chocolate. Lay on baking trays lined with wax paper and place in refrigerator (or freezer) to harden. It's a good idea to keep these cookies refrigerated to keep the chocolate from melting.