Peanut Chip Cookies

Starting when I was a kid cooking with my sister Carol, and continuing with my own kids, I've adjusted the standard Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe to improve it and make it more suitable for the wide range of different types of chips now on the market. It finally got stabe enough for me to write down in my forties...

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (If you don't like peanut butter, just replace this with another stick of butter.)
• 1 pound brown sugar (approximately 2 1/3 cup, packed, but I never measure it because the 16 ounce box is standard in the U.S.)
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla
• 3 1/3 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 bags (10 to 12 ounces each) baking chips of your choice. We've had success with the traditional semi-sweet chocolate chips (of course!), white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and M & M minis, all of which you can find in most U.S. grocery stores. My standard is one bag of peanut butter chips and one bag of chocolate chips. The kids like M & M's with peanut butter chips.

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Blend butter, peanut buffer, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add baking soda and flour. It's best to mix the baking soda in to the flour first so it gets distributed evenly.
4. Mix in baking chips.
5. Lightly butter cookie sheets.
6. Spoon out cookie mixture onto cookie sheets in 1 to 1 1/2 inch blobs.
7. Cook at 325°F for 12 to 15 minutes.
8. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then move to cooling racks.

Variation: For holiday cookies, I replace the peanut butter with egg nog and use all white chocolate chips. Too good for words.

Makes about... well, I'm not exactly sure. I usually get about four dozen cookies, but there's always a lot of taste testing going on.