Peanut butter Heaven

For my friend Emily's birthday I whipped up some delicious peanut butter cookie sandwhiches from a Cottage Living recipe that Christy had let me try. It is so easy and soooooo dang good. You can either make the cookies from scratch or try store bought soft or break and bake peanut butter cookies. A lot of girls at work asked for the recipe, so here it is:

Peanut Butter Sandwhich Cookies
Makes: 12 sandwhich cookies
Prep:20 min (or 5 of you just make the filling:))
Bake: 12 min

Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Creamy Peanut Butter Filling

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
2. Beat together first 3 ingredients and 1/2 cup granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Stir in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until fully incorporated.

3. Scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheets, 1 rounded tablespoonful at a time, about 2 inches apart. (Dough should yield about 24 cookies.) Press cookies flat with the back of a fork dipped into remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle cookies with any remaining sugar, if desired, and bake 12 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Remove from oven, and cool 5 minutes on pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Spread about 1 tablespoon Creamy Peanut Butter Filling onto flat side of 12 cookies, and top each with another cookie, flat side down, to make a sandwich.

Yield
Makes 12 sandwich cookies

Filling:

Ingredients
2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preparation
Beat all ingredients until smooth.
Yield
Makes 1 cup



Sara Foster , Cottage Living, MARCH 2008