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Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

All-Time-Fave from Minnesota State Fair

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Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies 1

The classic peanut butter cookie is reinvented with these Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies. Minnesota State Fair contester Loretta Ratajczyk created these. The simple but inventive additions of chocolate, chopped peanuts, and crushed vanilla wafers, paid off! Loretta won 1st place and blue ribbon bragging rights in our special cookie contest back in 2013 .

What also makes these peanut butter cookies so incredibly tasty is her addition of almond flavoring. Just wait until you try these! They are also easy and fun to make. In fact, my daughter Olivia enjoyed helping me this time around. Check out the steps below to see how we put together these award-winning cookies.

Step-By-Step: Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

While your oven warms up (set to 375 degrees F), mix together the sugars, butter, shortening, peanut butter, and egg.

Classic cookie ingredients

Here comes what I like to consider the “secret” ingredient- almond flavoring, instead of typical vanilla. Once the batter is mixed, add it in. It really gives the cookie a fantastic flavor. Next combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixture. Get everything mixed together and shape dough into walnut sized balls. Olivia was a fantastic helper during this step.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies Olivia

Dip tops into sugar. Place sugared dough balls on a baking sheet, sugar side up. Crisscross tops with a fork. This step in making peanut butter cookies always makes me think of making them as a child. It’s classic.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies Step 2

Bake 10-11 minutes, or until lightly-browned. Allow to set 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove and fully cool.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies Step 3

Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

While cookies are cooling, prepare the topping ingredients. Grind together the peanuts and vanilla wafers. I used a food processor for a finer texture. You could also put the ingredients in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments. Loretta has a great tip: to thin the chocolate she adds a generous tablespoon of solid shortening when melting the chocolate. Here is my toppings station.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies Step 4

Dip half of each cookie in the melted chocolate. To apply the peanut and vanilla wafer topping, you can either dip the cookie into the mixture, or set the chocolate dipped cookie on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with topping. Refrigerate a few minutes for a quick set. I recommend this, because you won’t want to wait to bite into these cookies!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies 2

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Another great winner’s tip is to save any leftover peanut/wafer mixture. It can be frozen and used for other desserts. Bonus!

Here’s Olivia proudly displaying her hard work:

Thank you Loretta for a wonderful recipe!

-Crystal

Note: This was previously published on our former website, StateFairRecipes.com. Find another all-time favorite from our archives with this epic cookie here.

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Vanilla wafers (11 oz box)

Spanish peanuts (12 oz)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix sugars, butter, shortening, peanut butter and egg in electric mixer. Add almond flavoring. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to mixture. Mix until combined. Shape dough into walnut size balls. Dip top into sugar and place on cookie sheet sugar side up. Crisscross top with a fork. Bake 10-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to set 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove and cool. Yields: Around 30 cookies

*Grind together the Vanilla wafers and Spanish peanuts. Follow melting instruction on bag of chocolate chips. To thin the chocolate I add a generous tablespoon of solid shortening when melting the chips. Dip half the cookie in the melted chocolate and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the wafer/peanut mixture on top of the chocolate. Refrigerate a few minutes for a quick set. Any wafer/peanut mixture left may be frozen and used for other desserts.

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