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Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Recently, I learned one very important thing about siblings: you never outgrow sibiling rivialry.

No matter if they are 4 or 40, if one sibling receives something the other does not, tantrums will be thrown.

Case and point?

My uncle and my mother.

The battle?

Peanut butter sandwich cookies.

When I was visiting my parents in Virginia, my mother admitted that Nutter Butters are her ultimate comfort food.

I, stupidly, made the mistake of saying I made a homemade version of these cookies for my uncle’s birthday.

Apparently, my mother, a devout reader of my blog, missed this post.

The scrunched up nose preceded the huffing and puffing.

She read my post out loud, in a whiny, bratty voice that would have landed my sister or me in timeout a few years ago.

Lordy.

Seeing my intelligent, caring, giving, sweet mother reduced to the equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum in a crowded department store was just too much for me.

So I whipped up a batch as a thank you for my Mum and Dad. Although, if my Dad was able to sample one of these, I would be highly impressed.

To avoid any future outbursts, I decided to include the steps and recipe this time around. Just to be safe.

Let’s start by toasting some old-fashioned oats and butter over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Just until the oats are fragrant and starting to brown just a bit.

When you remove the oats from the heat, transfer them to a bowl so they can cool.

Now, let’s whisk the dry ingredients together: all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. When these are fully combined, add the peanut butter.

Paddle until well combined.

When the toasted oats are cooled, add to dry ingredients…

…and whisk to evenly combine all ingredients.

Now, let’s add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture.

Paddle the mixtures until they are just, but fully, combined. You do not want to develop the gluten from the flour.

Now it’s time to roll out the dough. We need to achieve a 1/4″ thickness for the cookies.

I don’t know about you, but I stink at rolling out dough to a uniform thickness. I end up with thin, crispy, burnt cookies along with thick, undercooked cookies.

So let me show you a little trick. You will need: two sheets of parchment paper, two 1/4″ thick balsa wood slats and a rolling pin.

Place one sheet of parchment under the two slats. Dump your cookie dough in the middle.

Press the dough down a bit with your hands, trying to keep the dough in a square or rectangle shape.

Place the second sheet of parchment on top of the dough. Using your rolling pin, roll along the slats.

This rolls the dough to an even thickness.

Transfer the rolled dough to a sheet tray and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Use a circle cutter, of whatever width you desire, and cut out rounds from the chilled dough.

Transfer the cookies to a sheet tray lined with parchment or a SilPat. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake these at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, until the sides just start to take on a little color. Allow to cool on the sheet tray.

While the cookies are cooling, we need to mix together the filling.

Place peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, butter and salt in the bowl for a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Paddle until fully combined and smooth.

When the cookies are fully cooled, we can add the filling. I use a small offset to smear on the filling and then sandwich with another cookie.

Transfer cookies to an airtight container, if you can keep from eating them all in one sitting.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes 12 cookies

This is a wonderful, homemade version of Nutter Butters. The silky filling is surrounded by a soft, crunchy cookie. Grab a big, cold glass of milk to make a perfect snack.

Ingredients
Cookies
1 stick (4 ounces) + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Peanut Butter Filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation Instructions
For the Cookies
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stiring continually, until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes. Transfer oats to bowl to cool.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Place 1 cup butter, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar in mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment. Paddle on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, paddle until well combined.

Add cooled oats to flour mixture. Whisk to combine.

Add oat-flour mixture to peanut butter mixture. Paddle on low speed until just combined.

Turn out dough onto sheet of parchment. Place second sheet of parchment on top of dough. Roll to 1/4″ thickness.

Chill dough at least 20 minutes.

When dough is properly chilled, use a round cookie cutter to create cookies. Place, about 1″ apart, on a sheet tray lined with parchment or a SilPat. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired.

Bake until sides are just golden, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely on sheet tray.

For the Filling
Combine butter, peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Paddle until smooth.

Place desired amount of filling on flat side of cooled cookie. Sandwich with a second cookie.

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