Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Continuing the Chocolate and Peanut theme of International Chocolate Day and National Peanut Day (September 13), I found a great recipe from Michael Recchiuti on the Recchiuti San Francisco website. For more info on the cookbook, go to the end of this post.

I really like Recchiuti chocolate, and my company TeamBuilding Unlimited includes their shop in San Francisco on our Chocolate Tours and in our Chocolate and Bar to Bar to Bar Scavenger Quests.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Yields: 24

Ingredients:
1 cup organic unsalted peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated cane sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
fine grain fleur de sel to finish cookies

While you’re making them, the dough might seem a little different than what you’re used to. It’ll be more wet seem to fall apart a little bit. Don’t worry. Once they’re baked, everything falls into place and you’ll really appreciate the flavor and consistency organic peanut butter gives these cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the bottoms of two 12-by-18-inch sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir the peanut butter, sugar, egg, baking soda and kosher salt until combined.
Stir in the chocolate and peanuts.
Using a small, greased ice cream scoop, measure out the dough in teaspoon sized balls.
Place the dough on the prepared pans, spacing them 2 inches apart.
Bake on the middle shelves of the oven, rotating the pans 180 degrees halfway through the baking time, until lightly golden and spread to a puffy mound, about 12 to 14 minutes.
Sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel.
Let cool completely on the pans on wire racks.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to week.

Hints from Michael Recchiuti:
1.Look for an organic peanut butter where peanuts are the only ingredient listed. These nut butters contain no added sugar and have a great mouthfeel. The peanuts used are generally of higher quality and have been roasted darker for a rich flavor.

2.Make sure to use a fleur de sel rather than a grey sea salt. Fleur de sel is an unprocessed salt, hand raked and harvested from the premium, top layers of salt beds in France. “Fleur de sel” translates to “flower of salt,” which refers to the scent of violets the salt develops as it bleaches and dries in the sun. The flavor, like the aroma, is more floral and less briny than other sea salts.

Want more recipes for the Chocolate Obsessed? Chocolate Obsession Book: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor by Michael Recchiuti written with Fran Gage (Bread and Chocolate, Sweet Quartet). Order here. Price $30 and signed by Michael Recchiuti. (list price: $35). Go to the source!