Cloud 9 Cookies

Whenever I'm alone, house sitting for a friend, I end up watching movies that either:

A) Scare me so much that I need to 'sleep' with a light on while listening to NPR, or

B) Make me cry and fill me with a masochistic urge to enhance the mood by listening to the MP3 collection I simply call "depressing songs". (Just so you have an understanding of what this collection consists of, the theme from Love Story and Feist's "The Park" are the first two tracks.)

The other night I watched The Grudge, and An Affair to Remember.

It was quite the manic evening.

On those rare occasions when a hallway light (closet lights makes me think of Poltergeist), the BBC, and music fail to sooth my mind, I know I can always turn to baking...even if it's 2 o'clock in the morning.

And when baking can only take me half-way, I can count on cookies to do the rest of the work; cookies with chocolate and peanut butter, to be exact.

I'm not sure what it is about warm cookies and a glass of cold milk, but they never fail to put me in a better mood...that's something that will never change. Even when I'm 99 and sitting on a porch in Nantucket, surrounded by my grandchildren (or cats, as the case may be,) I hope I'll still be able to find the magic in fresh-from-the-oven cookies. Cookies are tangible, sugar-coated, edible happiness.

I wouldn't include 'Cloud 9' in a recipe title unless it was well-earned.

Cloud 9 Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/2 teaspoon baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar (light or dark)

1/4 cup of smooth peanut butter (do not use natural or low-fat)

1/2 cup (that's 1 stick), unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
2 Tablespoons of strong, brewed coffee, cooled (or 2 Tablespoons of cream)
1 cup of peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (I used bittersweet)

1/2 cup butterscotch chips (optional...I had a half-filled bag that needed to be used)

Method
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking Soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand-mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (a hand-held will work too), beat together both sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes on medium speed). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the vanilla, egg and coffee (or cream, if using). Beat until well combined.
Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. (Stop beating once all the white streaks of flour have disappeared.)
Using a large rubber spatula or wooded spoon, stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator.
Scoop out rounded Tablespoonfuls of dough for each cookie. Gently roll into balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets. (The cookies don't spread out very much, so don't worry about leaving too much space.)
Using the bottom of a lightly-floured glass or measuring cup, flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick.
Bake for 7-10 minutes. The middle part of the cookies will look slightly undercooked, and that's okay. [Note: Mine were perfect after 7 minutes, but I like chewy cookies. If you want crispy cookies, bake for the full 10 minutes.]

Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for about 8 minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack.

Makes about 32 cookies