Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello again! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I left on vacation and then started the back to school duties and haven't really had a chance to bake until today. In my back to school shopping spree I decided to stop in at Hasting's to check on the bargain book section. I love to go there because you can find so many books there at cheap prices. It is how I have EXPANDED my cookbook collection. I think I need to have some bookshelves built just to hold them all. If you included all the cooking magazines I would definitely need about.........5 or 6! That is ok. I love collecting cookbooks. My latest purchase was a book called Essentials Cookies. It is nothing but cookies. It was perfect because I was looking for a new cookie to make. I decided on these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. The were delicious in my opinion. They had a crisp outside and chewy inside. You could taste the subtle flavor of the almond extract. Chocolate chips....Only made them better. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 Cup butter or margarine, plus extra for greasing
Generous 1 1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Cups coarse peanut butter
1 egg
2 tsp almond extract
2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 Cup semisweet chocolate chips
scant 1/2 Cup peanuts chopped

Grease a large cookie sheet. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl together until fluffy. Add the peanut butter, egg and almond extract and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, fold in the flour and baking soda; add gradually to the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and peanuts and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the dough is firm.

Preheat the oven to 350. Put 24 rounded balls of the dough onto the greased cookie sheet, then flatten with a rolling pin. Ensure that they are well spaced because the may expand during cooking. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

Remove the cookies from the oven, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool before serving.

Source: Essentials Cookies