Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch Biscuits

This recipe is a bonus to six plates I would serve if asked to make a 6-course meal or string of small plates/tapas based on Zimbabwean cuisine. I used ingredients that are commonly eaten or are considered a cornerstone of our cooking, but with a modern twist. The first was sweet potato soup, the second tomato bruschetta with guava balsamic glaze, the third fried sadza with chili creamed corn, the fourth  Portobello steak with acorn squash and greens, the fifth mango, avocado and cucumber salad, and the sixth pawpaw/papaya sorbet.

Peanut butter. The one ingredient I could not leave out. Peanuts and peanut butter are commonly used in many Zimbabwe dishes. It's an affordable, readily available product that can instantly add extra protein to almost any meal. From spicy chicken stew, mealie meal porridge, stewed kale to pumpkin, peanut butter or dovi features widely.What's not so common is the use of it in non-savoury dishes. With Zimbabweans not being big on dessert, I can’t think of many instances besides maybe nhopi (a pumpkin pudding) where peanut butter is used to make a sweet treat. The opposite is true in American of course! Reeses - need I say more? There are, however, processed commercial products like toasted peanuts dipped in chocolate to make snack bars, but peanut butter biscuits (or cookies)? not really a thing.

Peanut butter biscuits are extremely easy and some of my favourite to bake and eat!

I sweetened these up with butterscotch chips - in place of toffee - a British import which I grew up on in the form of hard-boiled sweets and toffee apples. They have a unique taste I love and balance the saltiness from the peanut butter. Chocolate also goes well with peanut butter, so I add a little.

These biscuits are ideal for another British import Zimbabweans decided to cling onto - tea time! Whether it be at 10 AM or 4 PM, the tea time snack comes in many forms, but tea and biscuits are hard to pass and timeless!

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

1 egg, beaten

Pinch of sea salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Whisk all the ingredients together until evenly combined.

Use a cookie scoop or heaped teaspoon to lay out the dough on a parchment-lined baking tray, leaving space between the biscuits. Press lightly with a fork.

Bake in a 350F oven for 10 minutes. Allow biscuits to rest for at least 5 minutes. Makes 12-16 biscuits.