Not long ago I met someone who was utterly disdainful of the chocolate and peanut butter combination in these cookies and arrogantly suggested I never offer them up again. I decided this was just a form of snobbery because the same individual demonstrates pretentiousness in other areas – so to hell with it! I’m now going to assume that the inner child lurking somewhere within most of us will gorge itself silly on these delicious cookies.

99% of the time you’ll find they’re extremely well received by anyone with two or more teeth and as an added bonus; they’re a wonderful treat for people with wheat or dairy allergies.

BTW, I always use organic eggs. However, it’s important to note that neither organic peanut butter nor the ‘natural’ variety that requires stirring, will work in this recipe. Go for  regular supermarket brands such as Jif, Skippy or Peter Pan.

Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are good but you could go darker if you can find them – chocolate chips with 72% cocoa solids create a very grown-up tasting cookie! (Note – avoid anything made by Hershey as it will have as much resemblance to real chocolate as a bag of cat food).

Not that you’ll have any left over but they do freeze well if you need to make a batch or two ahead of time. They’ll allegedly keep in an airtight container for the best part of a week but this remains untested as I’ve never known them to last that long.

CHOCOLATE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

(Makes approx 24 cookies)

Ingredients:

I cup (240ml measure) of chunky peanut butter

I cup (240ml measure) of soft brown sugar, dark or light – well packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate)

½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240ml measure) of dark chocolate chips

Action:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Thoroughly blend the peanut butter, sugar, soda, egg and vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips.

With wet hands, roll walnut sized amounts into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet(s), 2 ins (5cm) apart.

Bake for approx 12 minutes or until puffy on top and golden underneath. Times vary slightly depending on whether you live above or below sea level.

Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. However tempting, any attempt to dislodge them while they’re still hot will result in a broken mess.

Wonderful dunked in a cold glass of milk.