Chocolate Surprise Cookies

The “surprise” in these chocolate cookies is peanut butter chips scattered through a cocoa dough alongside chopped walnuts. You bite through the dark chocolate exterior and hit pockets of melty, sweet peanut butter that contrast with the slightly bitter cocoa. It’s a chocolate-peanut butter cookie without any actual peanut butter in the dough.

Three tablespoons of cocoa powder beaten into the creamed margarine and egg gives the dough its deep chocolate color and flavor. The dry ingredients get added alternately with milk, which keeps the batter smooth and prevents it from getting too thick or too thin at any stage.

These bake fast at 400°F (200°C). Eight to ten minutes is all they need, and they’ll look slightly underdone when you pull them. They firm up as they cool. The high heat creates slightly crispy edges around a soft, fudgy center.

Kitchen Tips

• Cream the margarine and sugar thoroughly until light. This step creates the tender texture
• Add the dry ingredients and milk in alternating additions (dry, wet, dry) to keep the batter emulsified
• Space the drops a full 2 inches apart; they spread more than you’d expect at this high temperature
• Optional icing adds another layer, but the cookies stand fine on their own

Variations

• Double chocolate: Swap the peanut butter chips for white chocolate chips for a chocolate-on-chocolate cookie
• Pecan swap: Use chopped pecans instead of walnuts for a buttery, less bitter nut crunch
• Mint surprise: Replace peanut butter chips with mint chocolate chips for a chocolate-mint version