The other evening while surfing around on Pinterest, I came across an intriguing recipe via FoodieCrush for Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies that led me to Averie Cooks.  These peanut butter cookies intrigued me because they were rolled in cinnamon and sugar.  I had never thought of combining peanut butter and cinnamon.  And who doesn’t love peanut butter and who doesn’t love cinnamon and sugar?!

Well – I NEEEEEDED to make some cookies to take to our regular Thursday night trip to John’s Bar for dinner and drinks with our friends because I had missed and had to make up for a very important birthday the week before (Sorry Donna – you know I love you!).  These sounded different and worth a try.

The original recipe called for vanilla extract – of course – a staple for cookie bakers – but can you believe I was out of it?!  I had orange extract and mint extract and root beer extract and maple extract and RUM extract…. Hmmmm… Rum extract might work.  Thought I’d give it a shot.  And then to Jodify it and kick it up a notch, I decided to throw in some cinnamon chips too.  Couldn’t hurt – eh?  And instead of granulated sugar to roll them in, why not the coarser brown raw sugar to really add crunch and texture.

Well – oh my – I gotta say – they kinda kicked butt!

This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen large cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 tsp rum extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup cinnamon chips

1/2 cup raw sugar and 3 tsp cinnamon for rolling

Mix the first six ingredients on medium-high speed of a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes.

Add cinnamon chips.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour or more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the 1/2 cup raw sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Form 1 inch balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture – TWICE – to create a thicker cinnamon-sugar coating and produce cookies with more texture and more intense cinnamon sugar flavor.

Place balls onto a baking stone about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with the tines of a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 8 – 9 minutes. They will look slightly underbaked on top and a little fluffier than you expect when you pull them out, but allow cookies to cool on the baking stone for AT LEAST 10 minutes or until they’ve firmed up.

Once completely cooled, store cookies in a Ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer for best yumminess.

ENJOY!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi