The Great Cookie Experiment: Week 5

I hesitated to turn the oven on this morning since it's supposed to get up into the upper 80's outside, but my love for chocolate got the best of me.

I chose to tweak a basic chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe I found over at allrecipes.  I tweaked it for two reasons:  1.  I wanted peanut butter with my chocolate and 2.  I discovered I was all out of old fashioned oats!  Nothing like some gentle encouragement to be creative!  :)

Here's my final recipe:

Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I always use Skippy.)
• 1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned 7-Grain Cereal (I used the Wheat Montana brand)
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips  (The original recipe called for semi-sweet, but I never use those!)

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter, cereal and chocolate chips.
2. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

*Note:  With the addition of the peanut butter, you may find the dough a bit sticky, so if you don't have one of those handy cookie ball scoops, you may want to put the dough in the refrigerator for a bit to make it a bit easier to handle.

One word:  YUM!