Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Somehow I don't bake cookies very often.  It's probably because somehow I feel like cookies involve so much more mess and effort than simply baking a cake.  But nothing, and I mean nothing, can replace a really good cookie in my book.  Case and point, the cornflake marshmallow chocolate chip cookies I am always raving about from Momofuku Milk Bar and the chocolate peanut butter chip cookies from Levain Bakery.  After snacking on those all weekend I couldn't resist the chance to bake myself a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  Then I got the grand idea that I should add some oats so I could at least pretend that the cookies were healthy (or healthier).  Since I'm giving the majority of these cookies away the health factor doesn't really matter (and it gets me around Alex's baking moratorium, which I already circumvented with two batches of banana bread last week), but let's keep pretending that we're being good here.  I used to have a really kicka** recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that I lost.  And no batch that I have made since then has quite compared.  So instead of increasingly futile attempts to recreate those cookies, I have started purposefully straying from them in hopes that I will find something different, but equally delicious.

These cookies are interestingly fluffy.  The texture that I was expecting from the cookies was not the texture that came out of the oven.  I think it has something to do with the combination of old-fashioned oats and flour in this ratio. Texturally, these cookies are more like peanut butter cookies in that they are somewhat dry and crumbly like a lot of peanut butter cookies, rather than gooey and soft like chocolate chip cookies.  The cookies also weren't as sweet as I expected.  I considered rolling the dough in granulated sugar before baking them (a la Magnolia Bakery), but decided against it because I was worried they would be too sweet.  In the future I think I will play with the balance of oats and flour, and perhaps add a little more brown sugar.  Oh and I will go back to using Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the mini Tollhouse chocolate chips.  They were out of the Ghiradelli chocolate chips when I went to the store the other day, so I had to improvise.  I'm a big believer that the chocolate can really make the cookie.  All things considered, this wasn't my best cookie ever, but for a first attempt it wasn't bad at all!  One of these days I will find (or make up) a new go-to chocolate chip peanut butter cookie, with or without oatmeal.  And when I do, you all will be the first to know.

Recipe after the jump!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies  

INGREDIENTS:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Nestle Toll House Minis, but would recommend Ghiradelli)

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On medium speed, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.  Add the peanut butter and mix until well-blended.  Add the egg and vanilla extract; beat to combine.  Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined.  Gently fold in the oats, and then the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips with a spatula.

Drop dough in rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. 

Cool cookies completely on the baking sheet.  Serve.