Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chubbies

Martha Stewart and I regularly go to blows. I don’t know why, but I can’t make a cookie recipe of hers to save my life. This cookie began life as one of her peanut butter sandwich cookies. And as usual, my right eyeball began to pop out of its socket, and my eyebrows hit my hairline when I realized there was no way this recipe of hers was going to come together as planned. Again.

I barely restrained myself from beating this dough about the head and shoulders, once I realized something so crumbly didn’t have a prayer in hell of being rolled out as per the instructions. These were City Hall cookies, they had to be done, and I didn’t have time to make another batch. So I grabbed my mini cookie scoop and started packing in this crumbly mess of a “dough”, and turned it out onto parchment in half rounds. Not daring to disturb the mounds, I just baked them that way.

After the dough came out of the oven, I dipped the underside of a dry measuring cup into some sugar and flattened them slightly. What I was left with were the best darn little peanut butter oatmeal cookies I’ve ever tasted. Holy moly these little chubbies are tasty.

Martha Stewart got it half right. Or maybe I got it half right. Either way, I just want another cookie, or five.

Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Jiff peanut butter (I love Jiff in cookies)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
Granulated sugar for finishing

Instructions
1. In a large skillet melt 1 stick of butter over medium heat. Add the oatmeal and cook, stirring often until toasted. About 5 minutes. Pour oatmeal onto a baking sheet and cool completely.

2. After the oatmeal has cooled, line a of couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a stand mixer add 2 sticks of butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy; about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat until fluffy again. Add the salt and baking soda and beat until combined. Add the oatmeal and beat until incorporated. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

4. With a size 60 mini cookie scoop, pack in the dough with your hands. Turn the dough out onto the cookie sheets about an 1 ½” apart. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, set aside a small bowl of sugar and a dry measuring cup bigger than the cookies. Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, dip the back of the measuring cup in sugar and flatten the cookies slightly. Re-dip into the sugar about every third cookie.

6. Let cool on the cookie sheets a couple more minutes, then move to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Martha Stewart recipe heavily adapted by Laura Flowers.