challenge accepted!

Alex and I are huge fans of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. We’ve been regular viewers since we binge watched it while recovering from the flu over four years ago. We’ve seen every episode at least twice. So it should come as no surprise that this past Monday we tuned in eagerly to watch the season premier in which we would finally, officially meet the mother.

I like the mother already. You see, she meets the character Lily and instantly offers her cookies. I, too, like to use baked goods to make friends as I find it makes for an easy ice breaker. Plus who doesn’t like someone who hands them a cookie? In the show, Lily takes one bite of a cookie and proclaims “som’bitch!” as her mouth is too full for her trademark, “son of a bitch!” The cookies are explained to be chocolate chip, peanut butter, caramel cookies. So I thought….I can make those! So…

I tweaked my peanut butter cookie recipe a little to make them more malleable. In the show, the batter is generically cookie colored so it seemed to make the most sense to use a peanut butter base. I added some chocolate chips and decided to use a hidden caramel in the inside of each cookie.

They’re amazing when they’re warm and the caramel is runny but they’re just as good cooled when the caramel has had the chance to set and give off a little more flavor. Make a batch and share them. Maybe you’ll make a new friend, too.

himym som’bitches (chocolate chip peanut butter caramel cookies)
printer-friendly version
makes 28 cookies

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
28 chewy caramels, unwrapped

directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a stand mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamed. Scrape the edges of the bowl, add the eggs to the mixer and beat until well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Sift together or stir using a whisk to get rid of any lumps. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, and mix until it forms a soft dough. Add the chocolate chips and mix on the lowest setting until they’re scattered throughout. Roll a rounded teaspoon of dough into a ball and then flatten with your hands. Place the dough round onto a lined cookie sheet and place a caramel in the center of it. Place another rounded tablespoon of flattened dough on top of the caramel and press down on the edges of the cookie to close the seam so the caramel doesn’t leak out when baking. Set the cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.