A Little Slice of Heaven (A.K.A - The Ultimate Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Snickers Cookie)

As stated in my previous post, the school year is almost over and I currently have two days left with the kids!  I always find this time of year to be a little bittersweet though.  For one thing, I'm incredibly excited for my own summer vacation to begin (maybe even more so than the students'), while on the other hand, I'm sad to have to say goodbye to yet another wonderful group of kids.

After a lot of hard work put forth throughout the 4th quarter of the school year, I promised some of the winning groups, in each class period, that I'd bring them in a special treat.  It's really no secret with my student's that I have a passion for baking and cooking and some students even check out my blog ("Hey guys!").  I don't mind making them treats either, because I find that if a little baking on my part, in combination with teaching, will help them become successful in reaching goals, they might not otherwise reach, then it was worth every second of my time! 

I've held little group challenges each quarter throughout the school year and have made a variety of things to give away.  However, this time around I decided to combine some things I knew for sure that my students enjoyed, which definitely included chocolate......and of course, who can resist a Snickers candy bar?  Definitely not them, so here's the result of my creativity!  I'd say it turned out to be a success.

A Little Slice of Heaven
(A.K.A - The Ultimate Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Snickers Cookie)
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Makes about 36 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk chocolate, chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
½ cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
1 package mini snicker’s bars (each bar should be cut into three pieces and frozen)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone mat.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar, until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Stir in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.  Pour the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture and beat until just combined.  Now, using a large wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanuts (This is best when done by hand but you may feel free to use your electric mixer set to a low speed)

Once the dough is ready, drop it by tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheet(s) about an inch or so apart.  Then, push one frozen snickers half into the center of each ball of dough.  Bake for 9-11 minutes.  It’s very important that you let the cookie cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes; otherwise the cookie will fall apart when you try to transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!  These cookies will go fast!