Peanut Butter & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

I think most people who baked as a child have a fond memory of licking the bowl clean after a cake had been made. This was of course in the days before Edwina Currie put paid to any raw egg antics and spoilt all the fun.


When I was recently asked if I would like to review The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook by Lindsay Landis I was rather intrigued. A whole cookbook based on raw cookie dough - how does that work? Lindsay has basically taken the concept that, like me, most people enjoy the raw cake/cookie mix as much as the finished product and encorporated said raw mix (albeit egg free and thus Edwina friendly) into a whole host of recipes from cookies and cakes to truffles and French toast. In fact she pretty much covers the whole baking spectrum, all presented in a very user friendly bound book. 


I gave the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies a go as I've been wanting to find a good recipe for them. This recipe is basically a peanut butter cookie base with a chocolate cookie dough topping. All measurements in the book are given in US cups - fine by me as cups measurers are so quick.  The cookie base was pretty straightforward.  It called for rolling the dough in sugar before baking but I didn't do this and don't think it ruined the cookies in any way.  The cookie dough topping also included some chocolate chips but I felt that the mixture was rich enough so left them out. 


The cookies turned out really well and are delicious. The cookie dough topping does make for an indulgent creation but I quite liked it. It is definitely a bit strange biting into the combination of cooked and uncooked dough but good nonetheless. While there are some recipes in the book which don't appeal to me personally (Cookie Dough Bread Pudding) there are plenty that do.  I plan on making the Cookie Dough Ice Cream and I think the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles would make a good alternative to the usual Christmas ones. 


The Recipe (as made by me)


For the cookies:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Whole Earth)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tspn salt


For the cookie dough:
2 tbspns smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tspn salt
1 tbspn double cream
1 tspn vanilla extract


For topping:
Dark chocolate, melted


1. Preheat the oven to 180c.  Beat together the peanut butter, butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour and bicarb and mix until the ingredients are incorporated and the dough comes together (I found it quite crumbly but it worked fine when I made it into balls for baking).


2.  Roll dough by the tablespoon into 1 inch balls.  Arrange on parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Lightly press down the cookies using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb, slightly flattening the cookies and creating a small indentation. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set.  Let cool for 1 minute, then further define the indentation in the centre of each cookie with the back of a teaspoon. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


3.  To prepare the filling, beat together the peanut butter, butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Mix in flour, cocoa powder and salt on low speed.  Add cream and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  


4. Place 1 tspn of dough on each cooled cookie.  Drizzle with melted chocolate, if wished.