A Sudden Craving

Ever had a SUDDEN craving???? Yeah, yeah, don't deny it! I know you have! Sushi? Salad? Tofu? No, I'm not talking about that. Let's not kid ourselves. I'm talking about a REAL CRAVING. Chocolate? Peanut butter? Now we're talking. What are your biggest cravings? Those urges that hit you at random moments. Like when you're out at 9pm walking home from the movie store and it's humid and drizzly and suddenly your partner says .. "I crave Reese's.. No, not really. I crave the combination of chocolate and peanut butter."

Did we take the shortcut and buy the package of Reese's? Nope. Instead of reaching for a ready-made treat, we bought a dark chocolate bar and made cookies, peanut butter chocolate chunk ones. They were chewy and peanut-buttery oh-so-chocolately. Not too sweet like the candy-bar would have been, but just sweet enough to satisfy that late night craving. Because I used a chopped up chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips or chunks of baking chocolate (which would have been alright too), the chocolate bits did this melty, oozy thing that put this cookie over the top. It was the perfect treat to accompany The Good Fellas. Robert DeNiro would have approved.


I'm not going to ramble on in this post. Summer is ending and I have lots of fun things to try to cram into this last week of freedom. But I urge you to give in to your cravings once in a while. A healthy dose of sugar, or chocolate, or whatever it might be that hits you suddenly and out of the blue, might not be such a bad idea. Sushi, salad and tofu -- save those for a regular day. Make these cookies for one of your REAL cravings.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
adapted from the Robin Hood Flour cooking pamphlet with help from Seven Spoons (who urged me to add the honey) and Anna Olson (who's secret to chewy cookies -- corn starch -- won my heart)

1/4 cup of butter or margarine (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of corn starch
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 dark chocolate bar, chopped

1. Cream the butter/margarine, peanut butter and brown sugar until smooth and well-combined. Add the egg and honey and mix well.

2. Sift in the baking soda, corn starch, and flour and give it a good mix. Add the chopped chocolate and give it one final stir.

3. Drop teaspoons of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies get a little golden brown.

4. Don't forget to eat some while they're hot -- the ooey, gooey, melty chocolate shouldn't be missed. But, they store well and stay chewy if you keep them in a sealed container.