Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I want to tell you about my scary sandwich experience. Feel free to skip ahead if you don't care for my witty banter and excellent storytelling. That was an awful joke where I probably lost half of you. Anyway...

Yesterday I was making my favorite sandwich. Two slices of hearty wheat bread loaded with a delicious chickpea and avocado spread and topped with tons of fresh veggies.

I was preparing each of the ingredients: slicing the avocado, cutting the lettuce.

And then I get to the tomato. A plain, old regular tomato. I absentmindedly sliced into it, because - well - it's a tomato.

And then a ginormous spider crawls out. From the tomato. Onto my cutting board. Ready to attack.

My only protection was my huge, serial killer-esque chef's knife. I immediately began slamming it down on the awful bug over and over, until I was sure it could no longer harm me.

I will admit. I may have overreacted a teeny bit. But when a spider hops out of my food, I get a bit anxious.

To make a way-too-long story short, I was majorly freaked out and decided that when I need a sandwich fix I will eat these peanut butter sandwich cookies instead. They're way delicious and have much less of a chance of creepy bugs jumping out.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

These cookies are a terribly satisfying mix of crunchy peanut butter cookies and smooth white chocolate peanut butter filling. They are very easy and so, so delicious.

The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I used soy milk. Also, I used honey roasted peanuts instead of raw peanuts because it's what I had in the pantry. For the filling, you can use chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips if you want to try something a bit different. 

When I served my cookies, I sliced them in half and then dipped the cut half in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Ingredients

For the cookies

• 1-1/4 cups (6-1/4 ounces) honey roasted peanuts - original recipe calls for raw peanuts
• 3/4 cups (3-3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter - I used maple-flavored peanut butter
• 1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed (3-1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons whole milk - I used soy milk
• 1 large egg

Filling

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter - I used maple pb again
• 1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate
• 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners sugar, or until the frosting is thick

Optional Dipped Cookies

• 1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method

1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. Pulse peanuts in food processor until finely chopped, about 8 pulses. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk butter, peanut butter, sugars, milk, and egg. Stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until combined. Stir in peanuts.

2. Using a tablespoon, place 12 mounds, evenly spaced onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten mounds with damp hands until they are about 1-1/2 to 2-inches in diameter. Make sure to have about 2 inches between cookies on baking sheet.

3. Bake cookies until deep golden brown and firm to touch, 15-18 minutes, switching and rotating half way through. Let cookies cook on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Repeat portioning with remaining dough.

4. For the filling: Microwave peanut butter and white chocolate chips until melted in 10 second increments, stirring after each 10 seconds. Gradually add confectioners sugar until thickened - I only used about 1/2 cup.

5. To assemble: Place 24 cookies upside down on work surface. Place 1 level tablespoon of warm filling in center of each cookie. Place second cookie on top of filling, right side up, pressing gently until filling spreads to edges. Allow filling to set for 1 hour before serving. Assembled cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to 3 days

6. Optional: I cut each of my cookies in half. I then melted chocolate chips and butter together and dipped each cookie half into the chocolate.

Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

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