Jun 2

Jun 2 Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I have run into a lot of people in my life who don't like peanut butter cookies. Both my sisters and my bf Brian included. I think they are crazy. Peanut butter has been a love of mine forever. In junior high and high school I made myself a peanut butter and jam sandwich every day. And I loved it. There is a format to my perfect pb and j. You start with hearty grainy wheat bread. You slather one side in salted peanut butter. And the other slices is the vessel for the jam. Not jelly, jam. Homemade raspberry freezer jam from my grandpa's farm. And a weird thing, you know when you make your peanut butter and jelly sandwich and put it in a plastic bag to eat later for lunch. And then it gets kind of soggy and the jam soaks into the bread. I FRICKIN LOVE THAT. It's kind of weird though and fresh pb and j's are also great.I eat dessert every day. I never thought I would be able to get to the place where I could keep dessert hanging around my house on a regular basis. I never "trusted" myself enough to do this. I also used to think that a perfect relationship with dessert meant that I would make a batch of cookies, eat no dough or perfectly warm out of the oven cookies. Instead I would put all the baked cookies away and when the craving came for a cookie I would mindfully eat the one cookie. This rarely or maybe never happens and I am okay with that. A lot of times when I makes cookies I eat some dough, some warm cookies, and have some after dinner.Another peanut butter sandwich I "invented" in high school was a grilled banana, peanut butter, and chocolate chip sandwich. This was a popular dinner for me that combines both dinner and dessert. These cookies are a pair of another famous peanut butter duo - chocolate and peanut butter. It starts with a crispy rolled out peanut butter cookie. And then sandwiched between this and another cookie is a semisweet salted chocolate ganache. These cookies taste like home.Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich Cookies - recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Peanut butter cookies:

1 cup peanut butter

1 stick or 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:Beat butter and peanut butter in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.When butter and pb are light and fluffy add sugars and beat a few minutes more. Then add the egg. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat until mixture just comes together.Dump dough out and divide in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. *I rolled out the dough and cut into circles with a cookie cutter. This dough is really crumble and hard to roll out. Next time I would roll the dough into a log, refrigerate, and then slice and bake.When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 8 to 12 minutes depending on size of cookie. Longer time for bigger cookies.

Chocolate ganache:

8 ounces chocolate

3 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoons alt

Instructions:In a bowl over a simmering pot of water combine all ingredients and stir until everything is good and melted and combined. Let cool at room temperature.When ready to assemble cookies, either pipe or smear chocolate between two cookies to make a sandwich.