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.—Karen DeMasco
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies FAQs
Prior to being filled, these cookies will last up to a week, in an airtight container in the refrigerator. However, 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.
If you’re not going to use it immediately, once cool you can transfer the chocolate ganache to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 1 week (let it come to room temperature before using).
Yes! You absolutely can. The cookies have to cool completely before being filled so you have some time before putting them together. Once filled, the cookies are best eaten the same day so plan ahead and fill accordingly.
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
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 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
Instructions
Make the peanut butter cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of an 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.
- 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.
- Move the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
Make the milk chocolate filling
- 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.
- 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.
Assemble the peanut butter cookies
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This was a test of a published recipe, so I read the comments at the end of the recipe before writing this review. I tested the recipe without having looked at the comments beforehand, though. The cookies were good and the family/friends who tasted them, liked them. The reason this recipe is a borderline recipe for me is that the chocolate filling tasted more of peanut butter and therefore this was more of a peanut butter cookie with a peanut butter filling than a chocolate-filled one, not that there’s anything wrong with this idea.
The cookie batter comes together really easily. The smell of peanut butter was pervasive and the cookie itself is good. The smaller scoop I had was closer to 3/4″ and it’s definitely the best way to get really uniform cookies. These gave a nice size but I suspect this would be better at the smaller diameter just to give them a little less heft. As giving cookies, though, they looked more generous at the larger size. (I could also see going much larger with these but keeping them as an open-faced cookie the way that some chain stores do. It might be fun to put on sprinkles or decorations, too.)
I made the cookies the day before I filled them. The filling came together easily as well. While making the filling, I tested the filling without any powdered sugar, added half the powdered sugar and tasted, and then added the full amount. I think that the filling could be made with 1/2 the powdered sugar. Also, if I were to make these again, I would likely make them without the peanut butter and make this a truly chocolate filling.
The author in the comments recommends using other chocolate varieties like 65% or greater. I would also recommend using 65% or greater to give a little deeper chocolate flavor but I think the peanut butter is far too strong to overcome.
These peanut butter sandwich cookies were so good that I’ve made them 3 times now. Although, the first time they didn’t last long enough to be frosted, so the 2nd batch was made a day after the first. Yeah…we’re all feral for peanut butter cookies here.
The second batch was even better because I managed to slap a few together with the milk chocolate filling before the hordes devoured them. And before you get ahead of yourself, it’s just two of us. Two terribly hungry people who can’t be helped when it comes to peanut butter and chocolate. It’s like all bets are off when PB&C is at stake.
In other news, these cookies are perfect little beauties that are crispy, chewy, and filled with a creamy milk chocolate ganache that just takes them over the top. I did make them smaller, the second and third time around, just to make more of them. It’s easier to fill them if you have enough to spare, right?
These cookies look and sound delightful. Thank you for posting the recipe! Using a scale, I was wondering if someone might be willing to point out the weight of the flour, sugars and peanut butter used in the cookie dough, as measured by the author. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Nat, 1 cup of flour weighs approximately 4 1/2 ounces; 1 cup of lightly brown sugar weight approximately 8 ounces; 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar weighs approximately 4 ounces. That should give you a good guide to use weights.
David,
thank you so much!
I’m really looking forward to making these.
Thanks for helping me out!
Nat, our pleasure.
Thanks, David.
Have a nice weekend!
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.