Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies

As promised, here's my peanut butter cookie topped with honey and sea salt.

I know...you're probably thinking I've lost it. Peanut butter, honey, and sea salt? Trust me. You'll like it.

I love the crunchy/chewy texture combination about as much as I love the salty/sweet flavor combination...which is a lot. And this cookie hits all the right mouthfeel and flavor buttons. It's like a chewier, more flavorful, less tooth-damaging version of peanut brittle. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

I thought these would come out looking like old school peanut butter cookies--the flat kind with the crosshatches on top from the overlapping indentations of fork tines. They didn't, but the flattening step played an important part because it gave a nice, even surface for the honey and salt to stick to.

Using honey as a cookie glaze can be a little tricky. It's sticky and doesn't spread easily when cool but runs all over the place when hot. If you keep an eye on your oven, you'll see that the honey gets foamy as it heats up. If you've got a flat surface to coat, your honey will stick pretty much where you put it.

I used flaked sea salt because it's not as salty as regular old table salt and because it holds up pretty well when you sprinkle it on top of stuff and bake it.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter 2 tablespoons white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 tablespoon milk
Dry Ingredients	1 3/4 cups oatmeal 1 cup peanut butter chips 1 cup ground Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping	Honey Sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
4. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
5. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
6. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
7. Using a fork or a spatula, flatten the dough balls a little.
8. Drizzle each flattened dough ball with honey and top with a pinch of sea salt.
   
9. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Comments

[Jenn]

Question for you: in the ingredient list, the dry ingredients call for chopped apples--but in the pictures, it looks like you added peanut butter chips?

which should we use?

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Jenn. Whoops! Sorry about that... That bit about the apples was left over from a previous recipe's ingredients grid. I *thought* I changed it. It's fixed now. :-)

[Melissa]

I am a little confused on something. what kind oatmeal do you use? Old fashioned or quick oats.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Melissa. Thanks for writing in! I always use old fashioned oats in my cookies. I've found that quick oats will work in a pinch if that's all you've got on hand, or if you're going to be grinding the oatmeal for a recipe. In general, though, quick oats tend to suck up all the moisture in the dough, leaving you with a dry, crumbly cookie. Old fashioned oats, on the other hand, won't absorb too much moisture and produce a cookie that's deliciously moist and chewy. I hope that helps!