Christmas Cookie Box Recipe Collection
Now, if this was a cookie competition in terms of being fabulous, this one takes the cake. She’s the queen of these cookie boxes: a soft baked, gooey peanut butter cookie studded with chocolate and graham crackers, topped with toasted marshmallow, a peanut butter cup, chocolate drizzle, and MORE graham crackers. Like I said… she reigns supreme.
This is most definitely tied with the salted caramel coconut thumbprint for my favorite cookie of the boxes!! If you’re a peanut butter + chocolate lover, make these IMMEDIATELY!!!!!
Peanut butter cookie recipe is adapted to be gluten-free and adjusted for flavor from Ambitious Kitchen, original recipe linked here.
Full recipe for these beauties is below!! Enjoyyy <3
For the Peanut Butter Cookies:
Wet ingredients:
½ cup (113g, 1 stick) salted butter
½ cup (128g) all natural creamy peanut butter (just peanuts + salt as ingredients)
1 cup (213g) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
1 cup (120g) + 2 tablespoons gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour (I used King Arthur, Bob’s Red Mill works too)
½ tsp baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Optional but recommended: 1/3-1/2 cup gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (I used the Once Again Honey Graham Crackers)
For topping:
Marshmallows or marshmallow fluff
Milk or semi-sweet chocolate, for drizzling
additional graham cracker crumbs, for sprinkling
Peanut butter cups, sliced in half, for topping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Brown your butter: add butter to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a medium bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
Mix together wet ingredients: Once brown butter has cooled, transfer to a large bowl.
Add in the peanut butter, brown sugar, room temperature egg and egg yolk, honey and vanilla and whisk together until smooth, thick and well combined.
Stir in dry ingredients: Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl and then stir with
a wooden spoon until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips and graham crackers, if desired.
Use a large cookie scoop to grab dough and then use your hands roll into golf-sized balls. Roll balls in sugar if you’d like for crispy edges, then place at least 2 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. (If you want to make medium sized cookies, use a medium cookie scoop and roll them into smaller dough balls about 2 tablespoons each.)
Bake large cookies for 12-16 minutes and smaller cookies for 8-10 minutes until edges begin to turn slightly golden brown and cookies are set. Do not overbake or cookies will dry out.
Remove from oven immediately place a marshmallow or a dollop of marshmallow fluff in the center, along with half a peanut butter cup. Optional but recommended: use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallow. If you don’t have a kitchen torch, I’d recommend placing the marshmallow in the center of the cookies before or halfway through baking for a gooey center.
Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes to help set up on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Once cookies are cooled, drizzle with melted semi-sweet or milk chocolate, and sprinkle with additional graham cracker crumbs. Allow chocolate to set before devouring!! ENJOY <3