Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies with Milk Chocolate Filling
November 30, 2009 posted by Linda Avery
by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox
from The Craft of Baking
(Clarkson Potter, 2009)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
These playful, crunchy peanut butter cookie sandwiches with their gooey milk chocolate filling are great for kids of all ages. Using a commercial peanut butter is the key to evoking that childhood taste (my favorite is Skippy creamy; try crunchy for variation and see which you like best). Be sure to let the cookies cool completely before filling them, or bake them a day in advance and fill them the next day. Unfilled peanut butter cookies are also great to use for ice cream sandwiches, and are delicious alongside chocolate pudding.
convert Ingredients
For the peanut butter cookies
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon lightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
For the milk chocolate filling
6 ounces milk chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
Method
Make the peanut butter cookies
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the oil, vanilla, and egg and beat until just combined, about 20 seconds. Add the flour mixture, beating just to combine.
4. Lightly flour the palms of your hands, and roll the dough into balls about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, about 12 minutes.
5. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool completely. (The peanut butter cookies can be stored, unfilled, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.)
Make the milk chocolate filling
1. Combine the chocolate, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate mixture. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is completely melted.
2. Set the bowl in an ice bath, or chill it in the refrigerator, until the filling has cooled to room temperature and is thick enough to spread. Then use it immediately or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 1 week (let it come to room temperature before using).
Assemble the peanut butter cookies
1. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 teaspoon of the milk chocolate filling over the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich with the remaining cookies, flat sides together.
2. Once filled, the cookies are best eaten the same day, but they can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipe © 2009 Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
LC
on 
LC to your 
I made these yesterday, and liked but didn’t love them. Two questions: 1/2 inch balls? Really? I made them about 3/4 inch, and they were pretty small–maybe the size of a fifty-cent piece. I have nothing against small cookies, just wondered whether that instruction is correct.
Second, the filling is fairly soft and gooey at room temperature (uh, oh, light-bulb moment–maybe that’s why they’re supposed to be tiny, one-bite cookies). Anyhow, would adding more confectioners sugar firm the filling up? If not, are there other proportions to play with? Darker chocolate? Less peanut butter?
Thanks!
Hi Susan. I am sorry that you didn’t love these cookies as much as I do, though it sounds like most of your gripe is that they are small. My cookies tend to be on the small side, I like to have the option of having a cookie for a taste of something sweet—or 2 or 3 for a more substantial snack or dessert. This recipe certainly works when the cookies are larger, they just might need a few more minutes in the oven.
As far as the filling, it is quite loose immediately after it is made, but it will set up thicker at room temperature after a couple of hours. I also have the option in the recipe of making it ahead of time and refrigerating it. The filling then will be quite stiff, and should be left to come to a cool room temperature before trying to spread it in between the cookies.
To make a thicker filling, you can substitute a semisweet or bittersweet chocolate for the milk chocolate or add an ounce or two of milk chocolate to the original recipe. Adding extra sugar will actually make the filling softer. With more chocolate, it will still take some time for the chocolate to set up and the filling to become thick.
I hope this has helped!
Karen DeMasco
author of The Craft of Baking
Susan, I made these cookies last night following Karen’s suggestions regarding making the filling thicker, and it worked. I also made them a bit bigger, increasing the baking time by about 5 to 7 minutes. If you try them again, I think you’ll have success.
Thank you both so much! I’ll definitely try them again with the revised filling. I actually still have a handful of cookies—minus-filling in the fridge, and they’re mighty good—nice and crumbly and very peanut-buttery. I like small cookies, too; I was just expecting something else.
On a side note, Karen, my husband and I went to Locanda Verde Saturday night. Tough decision on those desserts. We had the hazelnut semi-freddo and, on the bartender’s recommendation, the lemon tart. Phenomenal! Thanks again.