Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Shortbread

Figuring out this salted peanut butter chocolate shortbread recipe has been the BANE of my existence, and yet somehow I couldn’t give up on it.  

Initially, I found a recipe and was like “oooh yes please!”  But after trying to make it a couple different times and having trouble—the dough was dry and crumbly, wasn’t flavorful enough, etc.—I set it aside.  

Then a year or so later I decided to try it again, with different alterations.  Better…but still not there.  And finally, Nicola Lamb came to the rescue by solving a lot of the recipe problems I’d been having with SCIENCE!

I love her Kitchen Projects newsletter, where she takes an incredibly rigorous approach to recipe testing, particularly the chemistry element…for instance, how various proportions of fat impact a particular recipe, how much liquid it needs, etc.  It’s nerdy but even if you don’t want to get that detailed, you can benefit from what she learns. 

You might also like:  The Kitchen Tools & Gadgets I Swear By

And so finally I had a peanut butter chocolate shortbread recipe that I loved and could depend on.  The cookies aren’t too sweet, which is a selling point for me (and the flaky sea salt helps a bit too with that sweet-savory feel).  

Part of why they aren’t too sweet is that I accidentally left out the brown sugar once when making them, and I actually think they were more delicious that way (the recipe below reflects both options).    

You could also omit the chocolate bits and instead melt some dark chocolate and coconut oil, and dip the cookies in that instead.  Or do both because I’m not the boss of you.

Using your paddle attachment on a stand mixer, mix butter and peanut butter until homogenous, around 1 minute on a low speed.

Add the sugar and blend on medium speed until well-combined, around 1 minute.

Add the egg yolk and mix. Make sure you are scraping the sides of the bowl as needed and getting underneath the mixture.

Add the flour, malt powder and baking soda, and mix until dough begins to form (it may be crumbly, that’s okay; but it shouldn’t be super dry and floury).

Chop up the chocolate and peanuts into quite small chunks and add to the mixture.  Mix very briefly, just enough to start mixing it in.

Lay out a length of plastic wrap (cling film) on the counter and transfer dough to it.  I adore my commercial-size plastic wrap that has a cutter vs. having to wrestle with tearing it. 

Squish together with your hands and make sure there aren’t any dry bits.  Bring it together into a rough log shape about 1.5 – 2 inches thick.  Wrap the plastic around it tightly (including on both ends), then roll the log until it’s smooth and round.  Make sure there aren’t any air pockets

Put the log into the freezer for minimum of an hour, or in the fridge for at least 4 hours.  The dough needs to be *properly* cold or the cookies will overbake.  If it’s stone-cold frozen, you’ll probably need to let it sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes to be able to cut it.

Pre-heat oven to about 360 F (or 340 F convection), or 170 C.  

Using a serrated knife, slice your dough into about 1/2 inch-thick cookies.  Don’t panic if it cracks, just squash back together. I think these are nicer if you go on the thicker side, so they don’t burn.

Sprinkle a little bit of flaky sea salt on top (I prefer Maldon’s), if you desire (I DO). Bake for around 12 minutes, until the surface is cracked and the edges are golden.

Leave to cool until solid before eating, for the best texture and flavor…they are super delicate, and they’ll completely fall apart if you don’t let them cool.  These will stay good in an airtight container for at least a week.

Besides them being DELICIOUS and crazy easy, the other thing I love about this peanut butter shortbread is that it’s great to make and keep the log in the freezer, so you can pull out anytime you need it to bake up some fresh cookies.  Or just like…two cookies on a random Tuesday night!

Other amazing cookie recipes you’ll love:

• Amazing Intensely Dark Chocolate Sable Cookies
• Whole Wheat Cranberry Pistachio Orange Shortbread (egg-free)
• Best Soft Molasses Cookies Ever
• Triple Dark Chocolate Cookies
• Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can (hopefully) see Nicola Lamb’s entire breakdown of the recipe here.

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Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Yield: ~15 small cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 22 minutes

These delicious & easy salted peanut butter shortbread cookies are such a treat...plus they're perfect for making ahead, keeping the dough in the freezer, & pulling it out for fresh-baked cookies whenever you need them!

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Ingredients

• 50g of soft butter
• 40g of dark roast crunchy peanut butter (not natural)
• OPTIONAL:  50g of light brown sugar (see notes)
• 25g of granulated sugar
• 15g egg yolk (basically one yolk)
• 85g of all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon of baking soda
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt (if using table salt, go with 1/4)
• Optional:  10g of horlicks / malt powder (I can't taste a big difference with or without)
• 35g of dark or milk chocolate, chopped 
• 15g of salted roasted peanuts, chopped (if you don’t have peanuts, just do extra chocolate!)
• OPTIONAL: pinch of salt for sprinkling on top

Instructions

1. Using your paddle attachment on a stand mixer, mix butter and peanut butter until homogenous, around 1 minute on a low speed.
2. Add the sugar and blend on medium speed until well-combined, around 1 minute.
3. Add the egg yolk and mix. Make sure you are scraping the sides of the bowl as needed and getting underneath the mixture.
4. Add the flour, malt powder and baking soda, and mix until dough begins to form (it may be crumbly, that's okay).
5. Chop up the chocolate and peanuts into quite small chunks and add to the mixture.  Mix very briefly, just enough to start mixing it in.
6. Lay out a length of plastic wrap (cling film) on the counter and transfer dough to it.  Squish together with your hands and make sure there aren't any dry bits.  Bring it together into a rough log shape about 1.5 - 2 inches thick. 
7. Wrap the plastic around it tightly (including on both ends), then roll the log until it's smooth and round.  Make sure there aren't any air pockets.
8. Put the log into the freezer for minimum of an hour, or in the fridge for at least 4 hours.  The dough needs to be *properly* cold or the cookies will overbake.  If it's stone-cold frozen, you'll probably need to let it sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes to be able to cut it.
9. Pre-heat oven to about 360 F (or 340 F convection), or 170 C.  
10. Using a serrated knife, slice your dough into about 1/2 inch-thick cookies.  Don't panic if it cracks, just squash back together. I think these are nicer if you go on the thicker side. 
11. Sprinkle a little bit of flaky sea salt on top, if desired (I DO). Bake for around 12 minutes, until the surface is cracked and the edges are golden.
12. Leave to cool until solid before eating, for the best texture and flavor...they are super delicate, and they'll completely fall apart if you don't let them cool.  These will stay good in an airtight container for at least a week.

Notes

1. One of the times I made this, I accidentally left out the brown sugar...and it was actually great!  A little less sweet but allowed the other flavors to come through.  The cookies were a bit crumblier in texture, but overall delish, and now I make it this way all the time.
2. The dough will keep for a month in the freezer, perfect for last-minute company or a random cookie craving.
3. Make sure you use regular peanut butter, not the natural stuff (with the oil on top).

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