Sweet with a little heat and filled with peanut butter flavor, these Peanut Butter Gochujang Cookies are chewy and delicious. Perfect for the gourmand or chile pepper enthusiast in your life. Gochujang is a Korean chile paste that can be found in the Asian food section at most grocery stores, and online. Be sure to buy the paste and not the sauce, the paste is concentrated and works best in this recipe.
1/2cupcreamy peanut buttershelf stable such as Skippy or Jif
1cupall-purpose flour
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1/2teaspoonfine grain salt
1/3cuppeanutssalted variety coarsely chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two or more large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Gochujang mixture
Mix the butter, brown sugar, and gochujang in a small bowl to form a paste.
Use a small rubber spatula to effectively mash and stir the ingredients together. Set aside.
Peanut butter cookie dough
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
Beat in the egg yolks. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. Add the peanut butter and beat until smooth and consistent, about 2 minutes.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and flatten the surface of the dough.
Dot half of the gochujang mixture onto the surface of the dough; roughly swirl and fold into the dough; don’t overmix. (See video for visual.) Repeat dotting process with remaining gochujang mixture. Swirl it into the dough with a spatula or knife. Avoid over-mixing. You want to see ribbons of the gochujang running through the dough.
Scoop the dough into 24 balls using a small cookie scoop. Arrange them well-spaced on the prepared baking sheets. Top each dough ball with a few of the chopped peanuts.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately rap the bottom of the baking sheet on a work surface to slightly flatten the cookies, which creates the craggy, pillowed texture shown. (You can skip this step and the cookies will deflate slightly. But they won’t have the exact same texture shown.)
Let cool 5 minutes on the pan, or until they are firm enough to move without tearing. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container, or in zip-top bags.
Notes
What to expect: A classic, chewy peanut butter cookie with marbling of sweet heat from the gochujang-brown sugar mixture. The peanut butter is the driving flavor in this recipe, and the subtle spicy flavor of gochujang provides a delightful grace note. This original cookie recipe was inspired by food columnist Eric Kim’s popular recipe, Gochujang Caramel Cookies, which he contributed to The New York Times.