I broke my own rules. I put nuts in cookies.
And I really liked these cookies. Shocking but true.
I’ve said many times that I don’t like nuts in baked goods because they remind me of hard little rocks amidst soft, fluffy, and tender delicacies and just ruin the whole experience.
It’s a picky thing of mine because I do love nuts on their own. I could make a dinner out of a can of mixed nuts and did many nights of the week way back when. Along with chips and dip.
And I wrote a cookbook about peanut butter with 100+ peanut butter recipes and adore peanut butter, which we all know is just pulverized peanuts.
It’s whole nuts in desserts that I’m very iffy and particular about, although sometimes I can deal.
And I dealt very well with nuts in these cookies.
The dough base is my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough, but instead of using chocolate chips, I added butterscotch chips, honey roasted peanuts, and a bit of cinnamon.
I just love honey roasted peanuts and make most of my Homemade Peanut Butter variations with them. Why bother with plain when I can have honey roasted.
They pair wonderfully with butterscotch chips, and in fact, this Honey Roasted Butterscotch White Chocolate Peanut Butter is my favorite peanut butter of all-time.
The cookies are soft and tender, thanks to the cornstarch. It’s magical for helping cookies stay softbatch-style soft, without turning cakey.
I’ve written about it before so many times and swear by it.
The big, crunchy peanuts that are embedded within the soft dough creates such a taste and texture contrast.
The saltiness of the peanuts cuts some of the inherent sweetness of the butterscotch chips, making the cookies the quintessential salty-and-sweet treat.
One of my 2013 baking promises to myself was to bake with butterscotch more often because I just love the flavor. I went through a little spurt with butterscotch, but it had been awhile and these hit the spot.
The cinnamon isn’t overt, and stays in the background, but adds another subtle layer of flavor.
If you like soft with crunchy, salty with sweet, honey roasted peanuts or butterscotch, I have a feeling you won’t be able to keep your hands out of the cookie jar.
They have me recanting, just a bit, about shunning nuts in desserts overall. But I promise that I’ll never put nuts in Carrot Cake or Banana Bread.
But in these cookies, they totally worked.
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Soft and Chewy Honey Roasted Peanuts and Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- one 11-ounce bag butterscotch chips, about 1 3/4 cups
- 1 ½ cups honey roasted peanuts, may substitute dry-roasted salted peanuts, or a favorite nut
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the butterscotch chips, peanuts and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two tablespoon mounds (I made 25). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat, or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 9 minutes for soft cookies because they firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, gooey centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
- Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Dough base adapted from Twix Bar Chocolate Chip Cookies, Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies, Soft and Chewy Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Related Recipes:
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Homemade Peanut Butter with Honey Roasted Peanuts
Honey Roasted Butterscotch White Chocolate Peanut Butter (GF) – My favorite flavor
Thanks for the entries in the Peanut Butter Comfort Cookbook and Food Processor Giveaway and the $50 Catching Fireflies Giveaway
Do you like nuts in desserts? Honey roasted peanuts? Butterscotch?
I normally shy away from using nuts as well in my desserts, but I may have to make an exception!
I normally prefer not to have nuts in my cookies, either. I like to use crunchy peanut butter in cookie recipes to get a subtle bit of crunch, but that’s typically it. I really have to be in the mood! It looks completely appropriate to add them here — I do love peanuts especially, and these honey roasted ones sound great. Rules are made to be broken, right?!
I love to break the rules!
I’m the same way with nuts in my cookies…but for some odd reason, I love honey roasted nuts in everything I usually won’t eat with nuts. (i.e. ice cream, etc.) I can’t wait to try these with the taste of the butterscotch chips…Yum!
I’m not surprised you’re a honey roasted nut fan – we think alike on so many things :)
I think you and I are cookie soul mates. I love soft and chewy, but I’m really picky about nuts, usually I would rather not, but I totally trust your cookie wisdom! (p.s. that needs to be your new book: Cookie Wisdom by Averie: How to Make The Best Cookies Ever)
LOL in my current cookbook – there’s a blurb called The Cookie Commandments! Ten top tips for creating the perfect cookies! I kept saying the same things over and over at the start of every recipe, so did a mini-chapter on that very topic!
How could you possibly go wrong here? I love nuts in desserts for the added texture and crunch. Plus, they can balance out the sweetness as well. Perfecto!
oooh i think i’d be totally fine with these cookies too … honey roasted peanuts, yes please!
Just one more reason to miss TJ’s: their nut selection. I miss it so bad! I love these cookies (you probably knew I would!) The honey roasted nuts + butterscotch chips is RIGHT up my alley!!
Oh girl they are SO YOU! And plenty of brown sugar with cinnamon undertones. Total Cassie cookie :)
And about 6 weeks ago I had run out of TJs honey roasted peanuts and there were closed and had to pick up nuts from the reg groc store and I will say, those honey roasted peanuts were NOT AT ALL the same as TJs. But just think…you have a beautiful house with a photography room I’d kill for!
I am with you nuts in baked goods. I like them in pecan pie and banana bread though. Thinking I would still devour these cookies, especially if you are telling me they are awesome. I trust your opinion like no other! Plus, honey roasted peanuts have got to be on of my favorites. They are addicting!
Oh and I guess our mind are thinking a like today! I did peanut butter and butterscotch today too! LOL
Pinning!
I know you did! I commented on your post and pinned it! I was your 1st commenter :)
If you were going to break your “nut” rule, you couldn’t have picked a better cookie! I’m a sucker for anything salty-sweet, and I definitely need more butterscotch in my life too. Thanks for helping me out :-)
Another fantastic looking cookie! I don’t mind nuts in baked goods but I always leave them big so I can pick them out and eat them first. Like a pre-dessert snack :)
a pre-dessert snack <-- love it :)
Mmm I bet those peanuts really make these cookies amazing!! These look lovely Averie!
I’m with you. I’m not big on putting nuts in everything. My dad, on the other hand, totally is. I made him a batch of my best brownies and he was insistent on adding walnuts. Of course it didn’t taste horrible but I don’t like anything distracting me from the ooey gooey perfection of baked goodness and it totally did! I’ll have to redeem those brownies soon.
I’m fine with nuts in cookies and brownies, but I prefer them chopped up a little. As for cake, I have had nuts in the frosting and like that pretty well (German chocolate and Texas sheet cake). I think these sound great–yummy flavors and stuffed with goodies!!
I could JUST eat German choc frosting. I don’t even need the cake part :)
I’ve never been into nuts in my baked goods either. Even white chocolate and macadamia cookies, they tastes great, but I just don’t want that big ol’ hard nut interfering with my sweet and chewy dough and chocolate. But if YOU say these are a must try, well, then I guess I’ll just have to try them anyway ;)
just don’t want that big ol’ hard nut interfering with my sweet and chewy dough <--- that is exactly how I feel, 99% of the time! I never want mac nuts in white choc cookies either! But these peanut cookies get a hall pass :)
Averie, I am one of those nutty people…love nuts anywhere and everywhere, LOL! I just love how you find all sorts of ways to use Honey Roasted Peanuts. I could eat them by the pound…just like these cookies! Mmm! Fabulous cookie recipe, girl! Pinning! xo
Thanks for pinning and glad to hear you’re a big honey roasted peanut fan too!
Generally I feel like nuts don’t belong in desserts (the exception being the nut topping on the brownie a Houston’s-but that is ON the brownie, not in). However, seeing as the two of us have almost identical food likes and dislikes I’m inclined to take your word on the goodness of these cookies;)
I’ve never heard of that brownie but now I want to try it!
Time for a trip to houston’s! One of the few chains I can get with…