Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Happy Halloween, everyone! Halloween is like Christmas for sweet-toothers like myself, so of course I couldn't wait to whip up a candy-inspired treat this year! In my fondest, spookiest memories of trick-or-treating as a kid, I'll always remember the annual candy trading party that my brothers and I threw upon returning home with our loot. Reese's peanut butter cups were always worth at least two of any other candy, because we all agreed that they were the best. Years later, I still can't resist tearing open a few bright orange wrappers in the month of October. Chocolate and peanut butter really are a match made in heaven, aren't they?!

So, of course, when I miraculously came across a bag of Reese's peanut butter chips in my pantry this week, I took it as a sign of some serious Halloween baking inspiration and let my mind run wild. These Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies are made candy-licious by semi-sweet chocolate chips, Hershey's cocoa powder and Reese's peanut butter chips. Their chocolate and peanut butter chewy interior with a slightly crispy exterior make for a seriously irresistible seasonal treat that is sure to put you in the Halloween spirit! Make a batch this Halloween, but be careful, you'll have to eat them quick -- they're so good, the ghouls and goblins might get them!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's, in honor of Halloween!)

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups Reese's peanut butter chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter with a hand mixer. Add the white sugar and brown sugar. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder; blend together until smooth. Stir in the chocolate and peanut butter chips. And, don't hold back! It may appear that you are adding too many, but trust me, this is the secret to these cookies.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls (about the size of a golf ball; I used an ice cream scoop) and place them one inch apart onto cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Keep a close eye on your oven as temperatures vary and you don't want to over bake these cookies. They're much better softer!

Makes about two dozen cookies. Enjoy!