Uniquely Delicious Peanut Butter Stracciatella Cookies

These cookies are my take on Stracciatella Gelato. Traditional Stracciatella gelato is vanilla with chocolate shards mixed in. My cookies are a delicious peanut butter cookie dough with dark chocolate shards mixed in.

The chocolate shards are made by melting good quality chocolate. This is not the time for Nestles chocolate chips. After the chocolate is melted it is spread into a very thin layer on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. and then frozen solid. Once the chocolate is frozen it’s broken up into shards no smaller that 1″. It’s ok if some of the pieces are larger because when you mix them into the dough some of them will break into smaller pieces.

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Ingredients

  

• 228 grams of Good Quality Semi-Sweet Chocolate Not Chips
• 114 grams of Room Temperature Unsalted Butter 8 Tablespoons or 1 Stick
• 150 grams of Smooth Peanut Butter Not Natural or Unsweetened
• 100 grams of Granulated Sugar ½ Cup
• 100 grams of Light Brown Sugar ½ Cup
• 1 large Whole Egg
• ½ teaspoon of Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
• 150 grams of All-Purpose Flour 1 ¼ Cups
• ½ teaspoon of Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon of Baking Soda
• ¼ teaspoon of Kosher Salt

Instructions

 

• Place a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add the chocolate to the bowl and occasionally stir the chocolate until just melted and smooth.
• Pour the melted chocolate onto a half sheet pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Using an offset spatula, spread the melted chocolate into a thin layer almost to the edges of the parchment paper.
• Place in the freezer until frozen solid.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.
• Add the peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat util combined.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until just combined.
• Remove the chocolate from the freezer and break into shards that are about an inch big. It's ok if some a smaller or larger, they should be random sizes. (See Video)
• Add the shards of chocolate and gently fold into the cookie dough with a large rubber spatula.
• Using a 1/4 cup scoop, portion out the dough. They should be about 60 grams each. Freeze until solid.
• About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 350℉.
• Place 6 frozen dough balls on a parchment lined half sheet pan, spaced evenly apart.
• Bake for 15-16 minutes. Place the pan on a rack to cool .
• If you want the cookies to be all uniform in size. Use a slightly larger round cookie cutter to scoot the cookies to a perfect circle immediately after removing from the oven.
• After 10 minutes, place the cookies directly on the cooling rack and allow to cool completely.