I love any excuse to make a cake and I had the perfect reason to make one recently – it was my dad’s birthday! He loves (I mean, LOVES) chocolate and peanut butter, so I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and threw in some peanut butter cups for good measure between the layers. It came out so well! But it also got me thinking that I wanted a simpler version that I could make anytime, just because. Enter: the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwich.
Details & Tips
These come together so easily and are so impressive, if I do say so myself. First, there’s the soft, chocolate cookie. I wanted something that was a rich chocolate and was also soft enough that the filling wouldn’t squish out as soon as you took a bite. While there’s a tiny bit of squishing, these cookies came out just about perfectly. So tasty, and soft! The low baking temp keeps them soft and ensures that they spread a bit so the end sandwich isn’t too tall to fit in your mouth.
The chocolate cookies would be amazing on their own, maybe with a bit of flaky salt on top, but adding a peanut butter buttercream makes them extra special. I’m not usually a huge traditional (American) buttercream fan, but I think the peanut butter really cuts the buttery-ness and makes it so, so good. You can adjust the amount of peanut butter if you want a richer peanut butter taste, but I love the balance that they’ve got as is. I could absolutely eat it by the spoonful and I might’ve while testing this recipe, but you can’t prove anything!
Variations!
If you wanted to mix this up, I think a strawberry or raspberry buttercream would be amazing with these cookies. I definitely want to make that version in the future, especially with strawberries being in season right now!
You could also make vanilla cookies, just sub the cocoa powder for some flour and bake as usual. From there, pretty much any flavor of buttercream would be delicious! Go nuts, if you can dream it you can make it into a delicious cookie sandwich situation. Let me know what you come up with!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches
These cookie sandwiches are sure to be a hit! The soft, rich chocolate cookies are delightful and are perfectly complemented by the peanut butter buttercream. These come together easily and would be a fun family project!
Ingredients
for the cookies
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 75 g (6 Tbsp) sugar
- 83 g (6 Tbsp) brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 5 g (1/2 tsp) baking soda
- 3 g (1/2 tsp) salt
- 3 g (1/2 tsp) cream of tartar, optional
- 50 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) cocoa powder
- 100 g (13 Tbsp + 1 tsp) flour
for the peanut butter buttercream
- 57 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 135 g (1/2 cup) peanut butter
- 57 g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- prep: preheat the oven to 325*
- make the cookie dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar. mix on medium until combined, then increase to medium high and mix for 4-6 minutes until several shades lighter and fluffy
- add the vanilla and egg and mix to combine. add the baking soda, salt, cream of tartar (if using) and cocoa powder, and mix well. finally, add the flour and mix until just combined
- bake: use a cookie scoop or two spoons to make 16 cookies, each with about 2 Tbsp of dough. place on two cookie sheets about 2 inches apart as they'll spread a bit. bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set and the middle is still a bit shiny. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely
- make the buttercream: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the peanut butter and softened butter on medium high speed until lightened in color and a bit fluffy, 3-5 minutes. add the salt and powdered sugar then mix, on low, until combined. increase the mixer speed to medium high and mix for a couple of minutes until fluffy
- assembly: using a piping bag or a butter knife/offset spatula, pipe or spread the buttercream onto half of the completely cool cookies. top each with another cookie and enjoy!
- enjoy! store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, if they last that long
Notes
- Natural peanut butter wouldn't work well here because of the oil. Be sure to use the kind that doesn't have separated oil!
- If the cookies aren't fully cool when you assemble the sandwiches the buttercream will melt, so be patient and don't use warm cookies
- You could make this by hand instead! It would be quite an arm workout, but not impossible
These amazing cookies deserve the plated dessert status!
Thank you!! Honestly I wish I had made a bigger batch so I still had some to snack on 🙂
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