Candy Bar Peanut Butter Cookies

Whew! Halloween was a ton of fun but I'm glad it's over. I'll admit I'm slightly scared by the overly frightening yard decorations and the pounds of candy all the children around me are ingesting, although I love seeing all the kids in their costumes. My son had a ton of fun trick or treating and even though we only did a little bit, we have a scary amount of candy, especially considering my sleep deprived and slightly hormonal postpartum state! Like a good parent I promptly picked through his bucket after he went to bed Saturday and removed the snickers/musketeers/milky ways (for baking) and the tootsie rolls (for me, ahem). He's only two, he didn't even notice.

I'm sure you have a lot of candy lying around, too, which is why I think you should try these sneaky little peanut butter cookies. I use my favorite dough recipe (from my mom's aunt, it's a good one, too) and after I scoop the dough, I flatten it out and put in a 1 inch piece of candy bar, happily pilfered from my son. Then I wrap the dough back up around it, squish it a little, and bake as usual. The end result is WAY better than a regular peanut butter cookie, which I still make for my non chocolate eating tall man.

If you are feeling particularly indulgent, try chocolate dough (like my Paradise Bakery Black and White Chippers Copy Cat recipe) with mint three musketeers or yorks. Oh man. I could probably live on those alone...

Candy Bar Peanut Butter Cookies
from Anne Strawberry

Note- I like my cookies a little bit flatter, so I squished these before and after baking. If you like them a little puffier, look at this post and all the goo-iness. Yum.

1 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bag bite size candy bars (or 4 full size bars) - Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, etc

Preheat oven to 375. Cut candy bars into 1 inch pieces and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Mix in peanut butter. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scoop dough out, flatten slightly in your palm. Place one piece of candy into the middle and roll in your hand to wrap the chocolate into the middle of the dough. Please on baking sheet, spacing apart generously, and bake from 9-12 minutes until dough has set but before cookies take on too much color. Remove from sheet and allow to cool. Enjoy warm!