I notoriously struggle with baking but love the idea of sharing something sweet as an act of love. I usually go for a store-bought cookie dough because it’s delicious and convenient, but, recently my husband was out of town for a while and I wanted something a bit more special to greet him with. I scoured the internet for something unique and landed on he amazingly skilled baker and photographer Sara Fennel at Broma Bakery’s “Halfway to Heaven Peanut Butter Cookies”. If you never need a baking recipe her site its a goldmine.
I ended up making a few substitutions due to ingredient availability and personal preference and landed on a cookie that is an amazing dupe for the classic GIRL SCOUT DO-SI-DOS! Listen, I was a girl scout from age 7-18 so you can imagine how elated I was to hear Cody say that I had created a replica of his favorite Girl Scout cookie!
I am a self diagnosed chocoholic so I added melted chocolate to half the filling because you can never go wrong with the peanut butter chocolate combo. I had many friends taste test these cookies and the verdict was 50/50 on which combo was the favorite so I have written the recipe to allow you to try both options. Don’t worry though, If you have better decision making skills than me you can skip or double the chocolate steps to make the whole batch one flavor!
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients:
Makes about 20 cookie sandwiches
Cookies
- 1 1/2 cups quick cook oats
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter flavored coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
Filling
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup chocolate chip, melted
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add butter flavored coconut oil and both sugars to a large bowl, mix until well combined and fully incorporated. Add the vanilla, peanut butter and egg and mix well.
- Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just mixed.
- Roll about 2 tsp of the mixture into a ball, and place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Press the ball down slightly until it forms a small disk. Repeat with the remaining dough leaving space between each cookie as they do spread!
- Bake each batch for 8 minutes. Let cool completely on cookie sheet.
- While the cookies are in the oven, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the peanut butter until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Divide the peanut filling mixture between two bowls, set one aside and mix an additional 2 tbsp powdered sugar and melted chocolate into the other. Mix until well incorporated.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely place half of the cookies upside down on a clean surface. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of each upside down cookie. Top with the second cookie and gently press down until the filling reaches the edges.
Tips:
- I used the Nutiva Butter Flavored Coconut oil for this recipe, you can find this at whole foods or sub 1/2 cup soften unsalted butter as per the inspiration recipe found here.
- If your coconut oil is completely solid pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it has started to melt.
- To melt the chocolate simply place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals stirring in between until the chocolate is just melted. This usually only takes about 45 seconds so be careful not to burn it.
- I’ve only made this recipe using a standard no stir peanut butter but I imagine using “natural” or fresh churned nut butter would result in a different texture for both the cookie and the filling.
Looking for another baked good to share your love? Check out my favorite cinnamon roll recipe here.
