Salted Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, you totally have to do yourselves a favour, and bake these cookies. They are So. Crazy. Delicious.

As you may know, a couple of weeks ago, I did some demos at the Cake, Bake and Sweets Show. One of the demos I did was a class about using sugar in baking.

It was really interesting to learn about all the different sugars on the market, how they’re made, and how changing them up can change your baking results! I played with raw caster sugar, reducing the amount of sugar in a sponge, made jam with awesome jam setting sugar and experimented with my favourite cookie recipe!

The salted almond chocolate chip cookies I made a few months ago are seriously one of my favourites. Easy to make, thick and chewy, packed full of chocolate, rich and caramel-y from the brown sugar, with crunch from almonds and the salty sweet tingle added by sprinkling with a little sea salt at the end. They’re the bomb. Really.

So I took the recipe, and messed with it slightly. I used dark brown sugar instead of light, swapped out almonds for salted peanuts (extra salt! Yum!) and adjusted the quantities of chocolate and nuts.

Oh and they’re sooo good. One girlfriend said they’re quite possibly the best cookies I’ve ever made! They have even more of a caramel tone, crispy edges and even chewier centres because of the dark brown sugar, have an even better salty-sweet mix and the amazing chocolate-peanut combo. Delish.

Please bake these! You’ll thank me, I promise : )

• 250g unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks 2 tbsp)
• 1½ cups dark brown sugar (300g)
• ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar (150g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups 2 tbsp plain flour (310g)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1½ cups salted, roasted peanuts (185g)
• Sea salt, extra, for sprinkling (optional)

1. Line a few trays with baking paper and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined between each addition. Beat in vanilla.
4. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and beat until just incorporated.
5. On a low speed, mix in the chocolate and nuts.
6. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto the prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with sea salt (optional, but super delicious).
7. Refrigerate or freeze the dough for at least an hour.
8. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).
9. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden around the edges.
10. Makes 30 cookies.
11. Happy baking (and eating)!