When I get stressed out, one thing that always helps calm my mind is baking. This week has been one of those weeks, so I went through what is left of my pantry and whipped up a quick batch with some good ol’ American peanut butter (sent by loving friends—sharing peanut butter truly is caring). I LOVE a peanut butter cookie, but I wanted to doctor up the traditional cookie using oats and adding chocolate (doi). In the name of science, I tested the difference between garnishing with sea salt and keeping the cookie as is. You can see the conclusion above… salt for the win! We Carolines tend to like that sort of thing, now go see for yourself!

Salted Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I use Jif)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup oats
1 bar of dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
course or flaked sea salt for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and mix for about 30 seconds. Lastly, add the oats and chocolate chunks and mix until combined. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes for better handling. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out the dough, then roll into a ball then mash down a bit with your thumb and make sure the cookies are compact, the dough is delicate so keep pushing it together to keep the form. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Bake for 11-12 minutes—the cookies should still look a little undone in the middle, but golden on the edges. Rest the cookies for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, as noted before, these are delicate and need the time to settle before being moved. Let cookies sit on wire rack at least 5 more minutes before diving in, mouth first.