Magnolia Bakery Peanut Butter Cookies

This is my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. It's from my Magnolia Bakery cookbook. This is a sweeter peanut butter cookie than most - that's most likely because of the addition of peanut butter chips. I always use Reeses chips. I like them much much better than Nestle. This recipe calls for sprinkling sugar on top of the flattened dough before baking. I love the look and crunch of sparkling white sugar. These are also wonderful with a sprinkling of regular granulated sugar but sparkling sugar just looks so pretty. The texture of these cookies is crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. The longer you bake them, the more thoroughly crispy they become. I've used both creamy and chunky peanut butter when making these and they both turn out excellent.

Magnolia Bakery Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar (I use the coarse sparkling sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Roll into balls then place on an ungreased cookie sheets (I just line my cookie sheets with parchment), leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern, but do not overly flatten cookies. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not. (I remove them from oven when very slightly browned around edges)

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely. (This is when parchment is handy - I just pull the whole piece of parchment, cookies included, onto a wire rack to cool).