Name: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies with Ganache Filling Recipe
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 32 cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon fine salt; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature; 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar; 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; 1/3 cup natural-style creamy peanut butter (no sugar added); 1 large egg , at room temperature; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 ounces semisweet chocolate , finely chopped; 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon natural-style creamy peanut butter (no sugar added); 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream; 2 tablespoons roasted, salted peanuts , finely chopped

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Peanut + chocolatetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,279 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,189 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Peanut + vanillatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,176 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, chocolate):

Almondfits better
Hazelnutfits better
Chestnutfits about as well
Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies with Ganache Filling Recipe