My blog buddy Laurel had a pretty ingenious sweet/salty combination: candy corn and salted peanuts. And she wondered if I could come up with a cookie version of her unconventional combo. Then I saw packs of Nature Valley Sweet & Salty granola bars at the grocery store.
I love sweet/salty stuff, so I was all over this one: sweet honey and salty salt on top of a crispy/chewy peanut butter cookie.
Believe it or not, I've actually attempted a cookie that used whole honey-roasted peanuts in the recipe. Unfortunately, the peanuts dried out during baking and tasted chalky, and the flavor of the honey-roasted coating just kind of faded away. Disappointing all around. So for this cookie, I'm going to build the honey-roasted flavor into the recipe, not rely on coated peanuts themselves to provide the flavor.
I'm picturing my super-tasty peanut butter cookies, drizzled with honey, sprinkled with sea salt, and baked to perfection. And I think those old-school criss-cross fork marks will look cool and provide some nice nooks and crannies for the honey and salt.
Sounds yummy! I can't wait!
Posted by: Laurel | November 02, 2009 at 09:37 PM
Sounds awesome--I'm a fan of sweet and salty combos too.
I am curious as to whether the honey would soak into the cookie if drizzled on before baking? How about a honey flavored royal icing drizzled on top of the cookies right out of the oven, with sea salt sprinkled on top of that?
Maybe you could use honey roasted flavored peanut butter too!
Posted by: DPLK | November 03, 2009 at 01:52 PM
Hi, Laurel. I'm going to post the recipe today. They came out really, really good!
Posted by: Oatmeal Cookie Guy | November 11, 2009 at 02:57 PM
Hi, DPLK. The honey didn't soak in. It made a really nice glaze that held on to the salt perfectly. I've used honey-roasted peanut butter before. It's really good! I used regular smooth peanut butter this time (couldn't find he h-r kind at the grocery store this time). You've gotta give these ones a try:
http://oatmealcookie.typepad.com/the_oatmeal_cookie_blog/2009/11/picturing-honeyroasted-peanut-butter-cookies.html
Posted by: Oatmeal Cookie Guy | November 11, 2009 at 02:59 PM