I had no intention of making this recipe. It was one of the hottest days of the summer, and even though the air was on, I really didn’t want to turn on the oven. A large about-to-expire bottle of buttermilk had other plans, though, and stared at me pointedly every time I opened the fridge. So, I gave in and hit Pinterest to find recipes that would help me avoid wasting what was left in the bottle.

I knew I wanted to make biscuits, and the recipe I had earmarked would get me part of the way to an empty bottle. I needed something else, and why not cookies? These Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies from Tasty Kitchen called for 2/3 of a cup, which would pretty much use up what was left after the biscuits.

To be honest, when I bit into the first just-out-of -the-oven one, I couldn’t really tell what role the buttermilk played, but it probably aided in the softness of the cookie–they were really soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside and very, very chocolatey. And while they would have been great as is, I made two changes, one out of necessity and the other because I couldn’t resist.

It’s hard to imagine our household without sugar–my baking jars are usually amply full, with backups waiting in the fridge. (I keep my sugar and flour in the fridge, to avoid bugs.) Somehow, though, we were clean out of white sugar, so I substituted the same amount of brown sugar. And then I also cut down the amount of chocolate chips to 1 cup and filled up the remaining 1 cup with peanut butter chips. I have to say, I can’t imagine these cookies without them, but go ahead and risk it if you dare.

These cookies were made for milk, so make sure you have some on hand. And yes–they’re definitely worth turning on your oven.