Peanut Clusters
Fix It and Enjoy It! 5-Ingredient Recipes
makes 36-40 pieces

half a 12-oz. package chocolate chips [or butterscotch chips]
12-oz. package peanut butter chips
12-oz. jar dry roasted peanuts

1. Place chocolate and peanut butter chips in a microwave-safe medium-sized bowl. Microwave on high for 1-1.5 minutes. Stir. Continue microwaving on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each time until chips are melted.
2. Stir in peanuts.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed-paper-covered baking sheets.
4. Refrigerate, or let stand on countertop, until firm.

Comments:

I haven’t yet made this using chocolate chips; I modified it by using butterscotch instead because I know people who can’t eat chocolate. Also, even though peanut butter chips only come in 10-oz. bags and I usually get a 16-oz. jar of peanuts, I sometimes still end up with extra melty stuff to add onto the top of the clusters. I usually just use a regular table spoon to scoop these out because a teaspoon seems rather small and it’s much easier to scrape them off a regular spoon.

Double Chip Browned-Butter Oat Scotchies
p. 96-97 of Wilson, Dede. A Baker’s Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies. Boston, Mass: Harvard Common Press, 2004.

Recipe as written:

Yield: 48 cookies

2 1/2c. oats (use old-fashioned, not quick or instant)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 c. butterscotch morsels
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. Whisk oats, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl
3. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan, then simmer over medium-low heat until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. The milk solids will turn golden brown; do not let them burn.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in both sugars until combines. Whisk in vanilla and eggs, one at a time, until smooth.
5. While mixture is still warm, quickly stir in oat mixture and butterscotch morsels. Gently stir until the warmth of the butter melts the chips and they blend with the rest of the ingredients. Allow mixture to cool (about 5 minutes), then stir in chocolate morsels and nuts. Drop by generously rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake until light golden brown but still moist and chewy in center, about 12 minutes. Tops will be softer than edges.
7. Place sheets on racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cookies from sheets and place directly on racks to cool completely.


What I do:

Ingredients: I’ve never used walnuts. Instead, I increase the butterscotch chips to 1/2c plus 1/4c (separate, to be added in with chocolate chips) and the chocolate chips to 3/4c.
Directions:
1. I haven’t yet used parchment paper, and I’ve made these 3 or 4 times. My cookie sheets are sufficiently non-stick that it works just fine without the paper.
3. You could probably skip browning the butter, but I’ve gone ahead and done it -the idea of browning butter is quite novel to me, so I like watching it separate into its parts and start to brown. :)
5. I add the butterscotch chips in, stir until they’re melted, and *then* add the oat mixture. It’s easier to stir the butterscotch until it’s melted that way.


Comments:
The whole “allow mixture to cool (about 5 minutes)” thing in step 5 still eludes me. I’ve let that stuff sit for 15 minutes and the chocolate *still* ends up melting by the time I scoop out all the cookies, which makes them look a little strange and affects the consistency a bit.

During my first trial, I did only let it sit for 5 minutes, which resulted in pretty much all of the chocolate chips melting when I stirred them in. This in turn affects how the cookies bake; they kinda puff up and end up hollow in spots, while they look rather strange -sort of marbled- even though the picture in the book looks like your typical oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. However, my test audience loved the fact that there are hollow spots, and have requested that I make them like that instead of trying to make them look like what’s in the book. :-p

Anyway, the outer parts (with the not-supposed-to-be-melted chocolate) end up a bit crispy, while the inside with the oats is kinda chewy. They do crumble some when you eat them because of the hollow spots.

All in all, despite not turning out how the book says, these cookies are a church potluck favorite. :)