The recipe is slightly adapted from King Arthur Baking Company The Essential Cookie Companion cookbook, a must-have book in any cookie lover’s kitchen! If you’re a baker, surely you’re familiar with King Arthur Baking Company. I’ve used their signature flour exclusively in my kitchen for ages—and I’m not being compensated for this post or to say this—I’m truly a huge fan and follow their blog closely. Their products are high quality, and their baking inspiration is aplenty.
King Arthur Baking Company The Essential Cookie Companion
They recently published a newly revised and updated cookbook called The Essential Cookie Companion. I’ve had the original version of this giant book for years and this newly revised version provides a fresh spin with over 400 cookie recipes that are approachable for beginners and experts alike. Yes… 400! I was even lucky enough to author a blurb for this beauty: It’s just a really great cookbook to have in your collection because it covers a vast range of cookie recipes including entire chapters on sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, biscotti, shortbread, peanut butter cookies, and brownies plus chapters for bar cookies, drop cookies, roll-out cookies, shaped cookies, no-bake cookies, and more. Not all of the cookie recipes have photos to go with them, but there are many illustrations depicting specific steps. All of the recipes include weight + volume ingredient measurements. I especially love the Create-a-Cookies on page 365 and used Peanut Chocolate Half Moons on page 68 for today’s recipe. Today’s new cookie recipe is adapted from the cookbook. The process and ingredients are exactly the same only I chill the cookie dough for 1 hour to prevent over-spreading and added more chocolate to the topping.
Tell Me About These Peanut Butter Chocolate Half Moon Cookies
Flavor: Enjoy peanut butter, peanuts, and chocolate in these sweet and slightly salty brown sugared cookies. The recipe says you can use add-ins such as peanut butter chips, butterscotch morsels, chocolate chips, or a combination. I actually opted for dry-roasted peanuts to really amp up the peanut flavor like I do in my peanut butter snickerdoodles. They also provided a little crunch to the finished cookie. Texture: If you avoid over-baking, the peanut butter chocolate half moons are soft and chewy with slightly crisp edges. The chocolate coating, made from chocolate, butter, and a little corn syrup, is rich and fudge-like. I love that the chocolate isn’t just melted chocolate; it’s a soft fudge icing and eventually sets. Ease: This is an easy 1 bowl cookie dough without any fussy steps. Shaping the cookie dough is as simple as dropping it on a lined baking sheet by the tablespoonful. Do not roll the dough in your hands because I tried that and the cookies over-spread. Coating half of the cookies in chocolate requires you to dip them. When it comes to cookie decorating, that’s certainly easy! Time: The recipe in the book does not require you to chill the cookie dough, but I found a 1 hour chill in the refrigerator helpful for the cookies to hold shape. I use this quick chill time when making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, too. The rest of the cookie recipe moves very quickly. Bake the cookies at 375°F (191°C), a slightly higher temperature than some cookie recipes to help set the shape quickly.
Quick Overview: How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Half Moons
The cookie dough comes together in just 1 mixing bowl. You’ll cream the butter and brown sugar with salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract. I found it interesting to cream the butter and brown sugar with these other ingredients, but understand that this is to evenly distribute those flavors and leavening in this 1-bowl dough. After that, add the egg and peanut butter one at a time and finally, beat in the flour and your add-in. Expect a super soft and creamy dough. Cover and chill for 1 hour before baking the cookies.
Chocolate Icing
You need pure baking chocolate or high-quality chocolate chips, softened butter, and a little corn syrup. The butter and corn syrup give the icing flexibility so it sets into a soft and thick fudgy consistency vs a hard chocolate coating. It’s wonderfully rich and 1 batch of these peanut chocolate half moons didn’t even last a day with a crew of taste testers.
They’re almost like a frosted version of peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies. These peanut butter chocolate cookies also deserve a shout out for all the peanut butter + chocolate lovers out there. So many cookies, so little time!
I had some extra peanuts nearby so I chopped and sprinkled them on top of the chocolate while it was still wet. That’s completely optional but makes a pretty finishing touch. You could also add flaky sea salt (so good here!). I hope you enjoy these beautiful peanut butter chocolate half moons and if you have a moment, check out The Essential Cookie Companion! This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
Coconut Macaroons Candy Cane Kiss Cookies Christmas Sugar Cookies Iced Oatmeal Gingerbread Cookies Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles
and here are my top 10 cookie baking tools if you’re looking for recommendations!
