Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies with Honey Cinnamon Filling
Brownies, pastries, pie (especially with some ice cream) - they're all delicious. But for us, cookies take the...cake? And Hun-Ney, do we have a treat for you!
Over the last few holiday seasons, Stephen has tested and recreated some delicious cookie recipes. This year we really wanted to challenge ourselves (well, Stephen did - he's the baker and David is the long time cookie tester). And as you may know, we keep bees, and this year we harvested a lot of honey. The challenge? Find the perfect cookie that is both super delicious AND highlights that sweet honey taste.
After much trial and error, and running through many taste testers, we finally found a great recipe. Peanut butter lovers - prepare to have your mind blown. This perfectly crunchy peanut butter cookie, stuffed with a creamy peanut butter & honey filling is fabulous and the hint of cinnamon makes these the perfect holiday treat. Plus, you get a double dose of peanut butter between the cookie and the filling - sounds like a win to us. The finished product actually reminded us of elevated Nutter Butters (did anyone else love getting those in their lunchbox?). I think we really found the Queen of Cookies here ;)
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie Ingredients
Yields: About 30 peanut butter cookie sandwiches.
// For the Cookie Dough
¾ cup (3 ¾ oz) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup (3 ½ oz) granulated white sugar
½ cup (3 ½ oz) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 large egg
Note: Go with whatever kind of peanut butter your family likes, however smooth peanut butter will be best for getting that creamy filling!
// For the Filling
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (4 oz) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
// Making the dough
Adjust two oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that is preheating, line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper and take out 2 mixing bowls.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter (melted), peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, and egg with a whisk.
Combine flour mixture into peanut butter mixture with rubber spatula until completely incorporated
Place 1-teaspoon sized mounds onto prepared baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. *If you don't have a proper sized cookie scoop, use a teaspoon, dipping it in water between each scoop. The balls of dough will look small, but they will flatten and spread.
Using a damp hand, flatten the mounds into 1½ diameter circles.
Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes, switching and rotating cookie sheets halfway through.
Let cookies cool on sheet pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack for a couple of minutes. The longer you give them to cool, the better they'll come out. You can't add the filling if the cookies are still warm, or else it will become a sticky mess.
// The Creamy Filling
Microwave peanut butter until you have a melted, creamy mixture - about 40 seconds.
Stir cinnamon and honey into warm peanut butter before adding confectioner sugar. Using a rubber spatula, stir in confectioners sugar until combined.
//Assembly
Match like-sized cookies together for pairing. Place half the cookies upside down on top of a hand towel. Place 1-teaspoon warm filling in center of each cookie.
To sandwich your peanut butter cookies, place second cookie on top of filling, right side up, and press gently on center until filling spreads to the edges. Allow filling to set for 1 hour before serving. Then, enjoy!
Optional: Add a dusting of confectioner's sugar on top before serving!
These stayed fresh in an airtight container, at room temperature on the counter for a few days (although to be honest, they were eaten before we could really test this well). Please let us know if you try out our honey and peanut butter sandwich cookies recipe - or any of our other tasty cookies, below!
What are some of your favorite recipes to make during the holiday season?
