Peanut Butter Cookies With Rolled Oats and Chocolate

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 Cup honey
1 egg
1 Cup flour, preferably whole wheat
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 Cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp Vanilla Paste, or Vanilla Extract
1 Cup rolled oats, soaked in 1 Cup very hot water

Topping (optional)
1/3 Cup natural peanut butter
2-3 Tbsp milk
1 Cup chocolate chips (preferably really good ones, like Guittard or Ghirardelli)

STEPS
Cream butter in a mixing bowl with a mixer on low speed, about 1 min. Add honey and egg, continue to beat, another minute. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cookie dough will be pretty thick and “gooey.”

Spread cookie dough in a greased 9″x13″ pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes (15-20 min if using a glass pan). Cookies are done when a toothpick, inserted in the center of the pan, comes out clean.  Remove from oven, and allow to cool at least 1 hour.

To make the optional topping, combine peanut butter, milk, and chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan (or a double-boiler), and heat until chips melt. Stir PB/chocolate mixture until smooth and combined.

Spread the topping over the cooled cookies. Allow topping to cool before slicing into individual bars. Can be made up to two days ahead, keep covered (refrigeration optional) until serving.

Note: You can also make these cookies w/o the chocolate topping – the peanut butter/rolled oat cookie is really good on its own. (But, of course, chocolate makes everything better, doesn’t it?)