Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with White Chocolate Chips...#5 in a series of desserts.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with White Chocolate Chips... This cookie was probably one of my favorite cookies. Very similar to a chewy chocolate chip cookie... yet different in taste.

I LOVED this cookie. Chewy. Peanut-y. Delicious. Loved the cinnamon flavor, an interesting ingredient that goes extremely well.

It would be safe to say that the peanut butter in the cookie is actually quite mild.... it's there, but not overly. And the white chocolate complements the peanut-butter cookie, with a buttery-vanilla flavor. Great combination. Best of all, the cookies are easy to do, and great for cookie exchanges. So here is#5 in a series of desserts. Hope you enjoy...

Note: I ended up adding a bit more peanut butter to the dough than what the original recipe asks for... and substituted chopped roasted peanuts instead of the peanut butter chips. Feel free to check out the original recipe.

Tip: If you don't care for cinnamon, opt to leave it out or even decrease amount... though it was the cinnamon that made these peanut butter cookies stand apart.

You will need: adapted from Espresso and Cream with a few changes.

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup peanut butter*

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 TBS. molasses

1 tsp. baking soda

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

* I used natural peanut butter...just ground peanuts, with a touch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper...or you can grease them. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy... 4-5 minutes. If your butter isn't too soft, you can beat the butter until fluffy(2 minutes) then add the sugar and beat an additional 2-3 minutes. The butter mixture should look fluffy and lighter in color.

3. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until combined.

4. Beat in the peanut butter, cinnamon, and molasses.

5. Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients... beating just until flour is combined.

6. Mix in the chopped peanuts and white chocolate chips by hand. You can reserve a few to top the cookies with, if you like.

7. Scoop the dough using a 1 1/2 TBS cookie scooper unto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 7-9 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Place on wire racks and cool completely.