Protein Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

PB filling:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (256g)
• ½ cup peanut butter or vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cookies:

• 1 cup of softened butter, a Crisco stick or ½ cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar (250g)
• 1/2 cup sugar (100g)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cup flour (292g)
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup mini chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup mixed semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips for tops of cookies

Instructions

Peanut Butter Filling

1. Prepare your peanut butter filling first by combining peanut butter, protein, and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl and stirring until all ingredients are well-combined.  
2. Drop peanut butter mixture by 2 teaspoon-sized scoops onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet.  Place in the freezer to chill while you prepare your cookie dough.

Chocolate Cookie Dough

1. Combine butter/yogurt and sugars in large bowl until creamy
2. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla extract.
3. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring well until ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
6. Cover bowl with cling wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Once the dough is nearly done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and prepare cookie sheets
8. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and peanut butter filling from the freezer.  
9. Use a 1 1/2 Tbsp-sized cookie scoop and scoop a heaping portion of cookie dough.
10. Make a crater in the center of the dough with your thumb and gently press a frozen dollop of peanut butter filling in the center. WORK QUICKLY
11. Take another scoop of cookie dough and cover the peanut butter filling.  Roll the dough around the filling until you have a smooth ball of cookie dough with no peanut butter showing. 
12.  Press chips into the dough as pleased (reference image 1)
13. Place on a prepared cookie sheet and bake on 375F (190C) for 13 minutes or until golden brown as pictured in picture 2
14. Once cookies have baked, remove from the oven  
15. Allow cookies to cool completely on a cookie sheet/ finish cooking with residual heat