This week’s Friday Tea and Chocolate is all about the chocolate with PB&J Cookies made with Reese Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread.
This post is sponsored by Hershey’s Canada.
I’ll admit it… I’ve been avoiding baking cookies lately for one reason and one reason only… I tend to eat them all after baking them. Which would be fine, I suppose, except that I can’t really afford a new wardrobe.
I try to be good and freeze them so that I’m not quite so tempted but I also really like frozen cookies so, yeah, that doesn’t always work so well either.
Except, this time it did! I put an extra bag in the deep freeze in the basement last month and totally forgot about them until I went rummaging around last week looking for tomato soup from last summer. It brightened my gloomy rainy day immensely (they’re all gone now though, so…).
That’s right, I made these cookies a month ago. It’s taken me that long to get organized enough to post about them. But here I am.
You may remember that last Christmas I was pretty excited because food husband Sean bought me a little jar of Reese peanut butter chocolate spread from the US, something that wasn’t available in Canada. I spread some of it on some toast and added it to hot chocolate but, let’s be honest here… most of it was eaten straight out of the jar with a spoon. Because it’s good stuff.
But here’s the thing. Now you can get it in Canada! So no more cross border runs to Blaine, WA to get some Reese spread goodness. And now that I can get it any time, I don’t need to ration it or simply savour it with a spoon. Now I can use it in my baking just like I do with Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Reese Pieces.
When I created these cookies, I had the final remains of my garden’s raspberries and the first batch of wild blackberries from the backyard and it immediately made me think of peanut butter and jam (but with chocolate too). So I decided to make a PB&J cookie!
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
- ½ cup Reese Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread
- 1 cup softened margarine or butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- 40 berries (you can use raspberries, blackberries or blueberries)
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Cream together eggs, peanut butter, Reese Spread, margarine, both sugars and vanilla extract until light and fluffy
- Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to the peanut butter mixture while stirring to mix well. Mix chocolate chips into the batter.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets or onto a silpat mat. Semi-flatten with a fork dipped in water. (don't flatten too much - they will spread)
- Press one whole berry into the centre of the cookie before putting in the oven
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.
- Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on wire racks.
You could also cut up cubes of peaches or apricots to sub for the berries or halve strawberries instead.
These cookies would go great with a glass of milk or a cup of tea but, my favourite way to eat them is with a big glass of icy cold lemonade. Toss in a few berries for a little more sunshine in your glass. You can even use frozen berries in winter!
Disclosure Notice: this post was sponsored by Hershey’s Canada. I was provided with product and monetary compensation for the purpose of creating an original recipe. But if you hang around these parts regularly, then you know already know about my Reese love affair!
I’ve always enjoyed frozen cookies especially double chocolate fudge ones from Costco (memories of University flashing there haha).
Do you find you go and eat more of the spread now that it’s available up here?
I definitely use more of it. The jar Sean bought me for Christmas was much smaller and I still had some left when I got my big jars from Hershey. As soon as they arrived, I finished off my little jar right then and there! I would never have baked with it before because that uses it up way too fast!
That looks so neat and perfect! I guess its Reese month 🙂 I made one today morning too! P:) Yum reese
They’re everywhere!
These look great! I love the berry in the middle 🙂 And I just love when awesome products I see in the States finally come to Canada ?
I know! I’m only about a 15 minute drive from the border but it’s such a hassle to go down just to get treats, plus the dollar is pretty lousy right now. I was so excited about this one.
I’ve always struggled with eating too many as well! My boyfriend will ask for a certain treat, I’ll bake it, he’ll eat one or two, and I find myself forgoing breakfast (and sometimes lunch, dinner) eating the rest! And apparently I’m just as hungry for freezer cookies. This recipe looks great; love the raspberries in the centre!
Thanks Alanna. Putting them in the freezer does slow me down a little but it’s I love the extra flavour burst you get when they’re frozen… it’s just as dangerous as warm fresh out of the oven cookies!
But frozen cookies are just so delicious, how can you not eat them?! These look superb! And I really need to get my hands on a jar of that Reese spread… yum!
I’m seeing it everywhere now. It should be pretty easy to get a hold of. I also just like spreading it on a piece of toast before bed. Then it gets all warm and melty like peanut butter 🙂
I’m not sure if I would be able not to eat the whole batch of these cookies! They sound so good!! Definitely going to search out Reece spread this weekend and bake a batch 🙂
PB&J….the classic combo. They sound wonderful….and I know I would not be able to just eat one. In fact who can eat one of anything if that awesome Reese spread is involved. Thank god for freezers..that is to say if you can get them in there quick enough. It’s always such a nice surprise to pull them out every now and again….makes me smile ?
I am afraid to try this spread, to be honest, because I love Reese’s peanut butter cups. The jar would be empty far too quickly!
These cookies sound like a great way to enjoy it, though, for those with more self-control than me! 🙂
I love that you added raspberries to these cookies! I bet it balances out the sweetness of the cookies really nicely.
Now I want to make these so I can try them frozen. You should make ice cream sandwiches out of them 😉
I hear you on the frozen cookies! My weakness is when I curl up with a good book…I can’t stop snacking when I read 🙂 Great idea to add the raspberries to these cookies. Glad you found them tucked away in the freezer!