Chunky Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel like I've been on an eternal quest to recreate the cookies my mom made when I was a kid. She made THE BEST peanut butter cookies. They were slightly crumbly, slightly sweet, but not too much, and each one had the distinct markings of a fork. I've tried countless recipes and I haven't been able to duplicate them. In fact, I've had trouble finding a peanut butter cookie that would actually hold fork marks!

Until now. The funny thing is, I didn't add ANY butter or oil. The only fat comes from heart-healthy peanuts and one egg yolk. These are incredible. My mom didn't add peanuts or chocolate chips, but I wanted to try that too. Sorry mom, I may have outdone you!

Note: These are not overly sweet, and that's the way I like them. They're not greasy either, which is the also the way I like them. For a sweeter cookie, add 1-2 tablespoons honey. You can taste a bit of the batter before shaping into balls so you can make an educated judgement call (remember, there's one raw egg in the batter, so just sample a smidge). 

Chunky Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter, preferably natural
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry roasted, lightly salted peanuts
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips/morsels

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey and sugar. Mix until blended and smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. 
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix until blended (mixture will be crumbly). Mix in the peanuts and chocolate chunks. 
Shape the dough into 30 balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each) and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet (don't worry if some peanuts and/or chocolate chips fall out, you can press them back in). Gently press the cookies down with a fork. 
Bake for 10 minutes, until light golden brown around the edges (honey cooks faster than sugar, and it can burn, so stop baking when the cookies are just golden). 

Makes 30 cookies