Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

I love love peanut butter. I would eat it every meal of the day if I could-if it weren't so bad for the waistband. Peanut butter is good by itself on a spoon, but pairing it with the perfect match makes it even better. For instance, with jelly -duh- or bananas in a sandwich, oh, and with chocolate. Can't forget chocolate. Marrying peanut butter with something sweet really brings out its salty and creamy yumminess. I had never tried mixing oatmeal with peanut butter, so when I found this recipe for oatmeal peanut butter cookies I knew I wanted to try it. Plus, while I was at target I came across a bag of Reese's peanut butter chips. I thought they would be the perfect addition to the cookies. Can't ever have too much peanut butter.
Truthfully, this cookie is more of a peanut butter cookie with oatmeal mixed in. But the oatmeal did make the cookie different from typical peanut butter cookies, which tend to be on the dry side. These cookies were definitely moist and less dense. They looked like oatmeal cookies when they came out, too!
The peanut butter chips added that kick, so that every bite is a double peanut butter experience. Yum. If you like peanut butter you will love these cookies.
I wish I hadn't made only half of the recipe after all; these disappear fast.


As adapted byMichele on allrecipes.com
RECIPE
Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Note: I substituted butter for both the margarine and shortening. I also substituted honey for a third of the called for white sugar. I added 1 cup of peanut butter chips and also 1/2 cup walnuts for added texture.