Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies

It was late in the afternoon when I decided I needed to bake up a batch of these cookies. Stephen's brother was on his way over for dinner and all we had for dessert was about 1 cup of peanut butter chunky monkey ice cream. I had planned on using it to make mini milkshakes but I thought we needed to have a little something more. Thankfully, these cookies only took a few minutes to whip up and once they came out of the oven they were ready to eat. As a peanut butter lover I thought that these definitely hit the mark. They're packed full of peanut butter flavor and the ground bits of peanuts only add to it! Yum!

Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
1 c. all-purpose flour
½ c. brown sugar, packed
8 tbsp. (½ stick) butter, room temperature
½ c. smooth peanut butter
1 egg
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
⅓ c. ground peanuts (chopped to resemble coarse bread crumbs)
1 tsp. sea salt, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add egg, mixing until incorporated.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground peanuts. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Chill dough for 15 minutes before baking.
4. Scoop 2" balls onto prepared baking sheets (I put 6 on a sheet). Using a fork, press a criss cross pattern into each cookie, flattening them out a bit. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place into oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from The New Best Recipe, Peanut Butter Cookies | Makes 12 large cookies