My peanut butter addiction is getting the best of me lately and the urge to make anything that contains it has taken over. In order to justify the need to satisfy my craving, I decided to test a slightly healthier version of my favorite peanut butter sandwich cookie recipe. I found this recipe over at Martha Stewart but the original is from the 'wichcraft restaurant. These cookies taste amazing on their own but when you sandwich them with the peanut butter filling, you take them to a whole new level. I made them with natural ingredients so they are healthier than the traditional variety and taste just as good. If you like peanut butter, you will love these cookies!
These cookies are made with old-fashioned oatmeal, organic peanut butter and natural sugar. I used Zulka Pure Cane Sugar* which is a Non-GMO Project verified "Morena" sugar that is not only healthier but has a great flavor and works well in baked goods.
The oats are toasted on the stove with butter before they are added to the dough.
Once toasted, the oats are cooled before they are mixed with the other ingredients. This step adds a wonderful flavor to the cookies.
The cookie dough is rolled out between parchment paper before it's chilled and cut.
The dough is refrigerated for about 20 minutes and then it's cut into circles.
Believe it or not, I do not have a circular cookie cutter. I used a 2" wide glass to cut out the dough. It worked just as well.
Because I used natural peanut butter, the dough was softer than it would be if I used regular peanut butter. You can use whichever you prefer.
Turbinado sugar is sprinkled on top of the cookies before they are baked. It adds a perfect sweet element to the peanut butter flavor.
A wonderful smooth and creamy peanut butter filling is swirled between each sandwich cookie. This is your wow factor!
The recipe makes about 12-18 sandwich cookies depending on how thin you roll your dough.
- Cookies
- 1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar - I used [url href="http://zulka.com/" target="_blank"][b]Zulka Pure Cane Sugar[/b][/url]
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup peanut butter - I used organic peanut butter*
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
- Peanut Butter Filling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring, until toasted, 5 to 7 minutes. Spread oat mixture onto prepared baking sheet and let cool.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together remaining 1/2 cup butter, granulated and brown sugars. Add peanut butter and mix until well combined.
- Add oat mixture and flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined. Turn dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover dough with second piece of parchment paper and roll out dough, between parchment, to 1/4 inch thick. Carefully slide rolled dough onto the back of a baking sheet and transfer to a refrigerator until chilled, about 20 minutes.
- Remove top layer of parchment paper; cut out cookies using a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets; sprinkle with turbanado sugar.
- Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake until golden, rotating baking sheets halfway through baking, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets.
- When cookies have cooled completely, snip the end of the pastry bag and squeeze filling in a spiral motion on the bottom side of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to form sandwiches.
- Mix all ingredients together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag until ready to use.
Please note ~ If you make these cookies with natural peanut butter, the dough will be softer and the cookies will be a little more crumbly than cookies made with regular peanut butter. The filling will be softer too. The flavor is still amazing. Consider yourself warned! These cookies are addictive!
Enjoy!
Leslie xo
*About Zulka Sugar
Zulka® Pure Cane Sugar is real, unrefined granulated “Morena” sugar made from freshly-harvested sugar cane that is a better-tasting and less-processed cup-for-cup replacement for refined white sugar. Morena sugar is a term used to describe granulated sugars that do not undergo conventional refining processes, which remove the complexity and depth of flavor present in raw sugar cane after it has been pressed. Zulka Pure Cane Sugar preserves the natural properties of the sugar cane plant, while retaining a flavor profile that’s as close to fresh sugar cane as possible, making it a better alternative to white sugar for baking, cooking and beverage recipes as well as all other everyday sugar uses. With a distinctively pure taste, and rich color and aroma, Zulka delivers a full-bodied and aromatic sweetness to all your favorite recipes.
For more information on Zulka Pure Cane Sugar go to www. Zulka.com
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.