Super Peanut-Buttery Chick-O-Stick Cookies

As a coconut lover and a super fan of peanut butter, I really like vegan-by-accident Chick-O-Sticks.  They used to be somewhat hard to find, but, for some reason, my neighborhood Marshall's has been selling bags of "old-time candy" recently, and mini Chick-O-Sticks are one of the two vegan options (hello Atomic Fire Balls).  With restraint, I bought only one bag, but then when I went back they were on clearance for half price.  Am I the only Chick-O-Stick fan in the area?  Needless to say, I bought more, leaving me with two, possibly stale, giant sticks in the pantry (for those who don't know, Chick-O-Sticks come in a range of sizes: hard-candy size, pen-size, and gargantuan).

I recalled having read Jess Sconed's recipe for cookies that involved crushed chick-o-sticks and decided to try my hand at it.  Instead of a chocolate chip cookie recipe as a base, though, I decided to use a simple peanut butter cookie recipe.  So, I turned to Mom's (Lois', not mine) Warm Peanut Butter Cookies from Lois Dieterly's Sinfully Vegan, subbing chunky peanut butter for smooth. 

Admittedly, I'm a terrible cook.  I can't even follow recipes very well.  And this is a very simple recipe.  I intended to halve the recipe, but inevitably my stellar math skills came into play and I accidentally "wholed" one ingredient, forcing me to backtrack and double the rest.  In the end I thought I had all of the measurements right, but my batter seemed very wet.  I thought it might have something to do with the fact that I used regular peanut butter (full of oil) instead of natural, so I added more flour and that seemed to firm things up a bit. 

It was time for the Chick-O-Sticks!  I whirred two ginormous sticks in my Magic Bullet and instantly had Chick-O-Stick powder to add to my batter.  It made it super orange and very, very dry (making me rethink the previous flour addition), so I added more peanut butter.  When in doubt, some chefs add more butter.  I add more peanut butter.  A lot more.  Oh!  I also added peanuts; things can never be too peanutty.

What else?  Okay, I baked them and they were delicious.  Per usual, they weren't peanut-buttery enough for me (despite all of my peanutty additions), but the Chick-O-Sticks added a really nice sweetness and really, you can't beat cookies with an orange glow.

In lieu of an actual recipe, I'll say this: take your favorite cookie recipe and add lots of extra, oily, peanut butter.  Then add a generous amount of crushed Chick-O-Sticks, some peanuts, and even some shredded, toasted coconut if you're feeling extra fancy (obviously I wasn't).  For some reason you can't leave the cookies in balls, so pat them down a little flatter with a spatula before or midway through cooking.  Voila, you will have your very own glowing orange Chick-O-Stick cookies.