There is a little bunny that lives between our house and our neighbor’s house. Well, technically, it lives in the neighbor’s woodpile, but it seems to spend most of its free time in our yard. Luckily it is only eating weeds and plants I’m not really particular about. Whenever somethings scares it, it dives into the woodpile through the chain-link fence. I don’t know what it is going to do once it is too big to fit through the fence. Maybe it will wait at one of the gates looking up at us until we come out and open both of them so it can pass through and get to the woodpile? Regardless, it is quite cute. Sometimes it will just sit contentedly next to the tree and the hole into the woodpile; other times it hops all over the place. We’re quite fascinated by it, and when we haven’t seen it for a while, I start to worry that the neighborhood fox has gotten it, but then it magically appears again. Ahh, the wildlife dramas of suburbia.
Now that you know the excitement in my life, let’s talk about these cookies. They are everything a peanut butter chocolate sandwich cookie should be. First, they are huge. They fill the palm of your hand and are perfect for splitting in half and sharing with a special person. Second, they are heavy on peanut flavor with just a hint of chocolate. Third, the cookie is perfectly crispy and held together with just the right amount of creamy peanut butter filling. Fourth, they are amazing. If they weren’t so filling, I think I could happily sit here and munch through the entire batch. If you are a peanut butter person, you are definitely going to love these cookies! They are well worth the effort!
Notes:
Raw peanuts can be a bit hard to find. I found mine in a health foods store. If you can’t find any, just get unsalted roasted peanuts and skip the roasting step. If you don’t have black cocoa powder, use regular cocoa powder. I used whole milk and Jif peanut butter to make these cookies. Wherever your peanut butter loyalties lie, use one that doesn’t separate out into oil and ground nuts. The dough will seem a bit runny until the chopped peanuts are added. I used a kitchen ruler to make sure I flatted all of the cookies to about the same size (2 inches). Just hold the ruler next to the dough as you flatten it. You’ll need to moisten your fingers before you flatten the cookies so the dough doesn’t stick to your hand. These cookies are a bit brittle, so be gentle when you fill them and make sure the frosting is still warm so it squishes easily. These cookies are large, so if you’d rather have smaller cookies (or need more cookies), use a smaller cookie scoop and flatten them out to about 1 inch. These cookies freeze well (even when filled). Pairing the cookies up before you make the frosting will ensure that the top and bottom cookies match reasonably well and will make the filling process faster.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated March and April 2012 Issue Number 115
Cookie Ingredients:
1¼ cups (194 g) raw peanuts
½ cup (67 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (23 g) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon (8g) black cocoa powder
1 teaspoon (7 g) baking soda
½ teaspoon (4 g) salt
3 tablespoons (40 g) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup (133 g) creamy peanut butter
½ cup (105 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (116 g) light brown sugar
3 (49 g) tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Peanut Butter Filling Ingredients:
¾ cup (208 g) creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons (39 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (136 g) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Yields 20-24 sandwich cookies
Roast, Sift, Pulse, Combine, Drop:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats, and set aside. Place the raw peanuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast them for 5-10 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Keep a close eye on them so they do not burn. Once toasted, immediately transfer them to a plate to cool. While the nuts cool, sift together the flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl, and set aside. Pulse the cooled nuts in a food processor until they are finely chopped, and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat the egg with a whisk until the whites and yolk are fully mixed. Whisk in the vanilla and milk. Then whisk in the peanut butter and melted butter. Lastly, whisk in the sugars. Once the wet ingredients are fully mixed, add the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until the flour streaks are gone. Stir in the chopped nuts. Use a tablespoon-sized scoop to portion the dough out onto the cookie sheets. Each dough ball should have about 1 tablespoon-worth of dough (16-17 grams). Space the dough balls about 3 inches apart. Put some water in a small bowl. Moisten the pads of your fingers, and gently press the dough out so that it is 2 inches in diameter. If the dough begins to stick to your fingers, remoisten them. Use a ruler to make sure all of the cookies are about the same size. Place the cookies in the oven, and bake at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes until the cookies are firm, rotating the cookies halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a rack to finish cooling. You should have 40-48 individual cookies that will yield 20-24 sandwich cookies. Allow the cookies to fully cool before filling them.
Combine, Microwave, Add, Scoop, Squish:
Once the cookies are cool, make pairs of the cookies that look alike (i.e., match the size and shape of the cookies). Place the pairs side by side on a cooling rack or cookie sheets with the bottoms facing up. After the cookies are in pairs, make the filling by combining the peanut butter and butter in a medium-sized bowl, and microwave until they are hot and runny. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and stir until fully incorporated. While the frosting is still hot/warm, use a cookie scoop to add a tablespoon-worth of filling to one of the cookies of each pair. Gently press down on the filling with the top cookie until the filling reaches the edge. If you break a cookie while you press, that is ok since the filling will hold the cookie together. (Just serve it broken side down.) If the frosting becomes too cold to easily compress, reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds. Allow the cookies to rest for about an hour so the filling can firm up. Store at room temperature or in the freezer in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
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