Peanut Butter Filling

Cup of Yum
1. Prepare your peanut butter filling first by combining peanut butter, sugar, 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 freezer to chill while you prepare your cookie dough.

Chocolate Cookie Dough

1. Combine softened butter and sugars in large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat together until well-combined.
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, cocoa powder, 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 dough is nearly done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.  
8. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and peanut butter filling from the freezer.  
9. Use a 1 ½ Tbsp-sized cookie scoop and scoop a 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.
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. Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake on 375F (190C) for 13 minutes.
13. Once cookies have baked, remove from the oven and within 3 minutes of removing from the oven, gently press additional chocolate chips onto the top.  
14. Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet.