I’m an especially lucky mom these days. One of my guys adores baking, and if I text him a recipe that has a drool-worthy picture, chances are pretty good he’ll whip up a batch within a day or two.
Such was the case with these decadent peanut butter cookies. They’re rich little treasures, filled with peanut butter cream and mini chocolate chips. I found them in a Food52 post on Friday, and when I got home from a very cool car show with my auto enthusiast son on Sunday, there was a plate of these—beautifully made—on the kitchen counter. Bless his heart!
Generous guy that he is, he made the cookies about three times larger than called for. Usually that’s a good thing, but in the case it was too much of a good thing! His advice is to stick to the recipe as written, and use a rounded teaspoon of dough for each cookie rather than be tempted to use a tablespoon for each. Trust me, you’ll be happier to end up with a whole bunch more smaller cookies.
Enjoy…and share a few to spread some cheer!
All I Want For Christmas Peanut Butter Cookies
Cookies:
- 6 ounces unsalted butter, best quality
- 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter (we used Jif – do not use natural peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scrape seeds
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar together until lightened.
3. Add egg, beat to combine, then add vanilla bean. Beat well until combined and lightened.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Fold into butter mixture thoroughly, but gently.
5. Place rounded teaspoons of dough on the sheet pan, about 2″ apart, and press down gently with a fork or with two floured fingers.
6. Bake about 10-12 minutes, until barely golden on top, and golden brown on the bottom.
The cookies will be very soft, so don’t fuss with them until they cool. Allow the cookies to cool completely while you make the sandwich cream.
Sandwich Cream:
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate or miniature chips
- 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Beat the sugar, butter and peanut butter together.
2. Stir in vanilla and chocolate. Add cream until smooth enough to spread.
3. Put the little cookies together, gluing one half to the other with a very generous schmear of sandwich cream. If you are very lucky, there will be broken halves, or uneven numbers–as that means a little snack for the baker.
Makes 4 dozen
I gained 2 pounds just reading this post! 😉
I hear ya 😉