Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwich Bites

Peanut butter and chocolate is definitely one of my favorite combinations -- although actually, the flavor of these cookies is mostly peanut butter with a little chocolate thrown in just for the heck of it. I liked the peanut butter frosting that Dorie Greenspan had for her peanut butter chocolate brownies, better than this frosting and, for a Pastry Queen recipe, the peanut butter cookies were rather bland by themselves, which is likely why she dressed them up with frosting and chocolate.

I like the concept of these cookies quite a lot though, but if I repeated this scenario I would probably use the Dorie peanut butter frosting, and the peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen.

I made at least one mistake with these cookies -- the recipe said they were supposed to be sandwich bites which means the ones I made were much bigger than intended. I should have known something was up when the Pastry Queen says the recipe makes 30 sandwich cookies and I only came up with 13. I'm sure those of you who get one aren't going to complain about that mistake though. The cookies are pretty crisp, and the frosting is pretty soft so the problem with the bigger cookie is that the frosting is going to goosh all over your fingers and chin as you try to eat the silly thing. A sandwich "bite" wouldn't have that problem since, in theory, you could just pop the whole thing into your mouth.

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
2 cups crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Coating:
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Sharfen-Berger 62%)
1 cup honey-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter in a large bowl on medium speed until combined, then add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat on medium speed until combined. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and beat on medium speed just until combined. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes (it can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.) Use a 1 1/2 inch scoop to drop the dough 1 1/2 inches apart onto the prepared pan. Use the tines of a fork to press the cookie flat. Bake for 7 -10 minutes until the cookies are deep golden brown around the edges -- you want them crispy.

To make the filling: Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, butter and heavy cream together in a medium bowl on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt, and beat on medium speed until combined.

To make the coating: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate into a measuring cup.

Meanwhile, use a spatula to spread a generous amount of filling on the flat bottom of a cookie. Top with another cookie, ridge side up. Set a wire rack on top of a sheet of waxed or parchment paper to catch chocolate drips. Dip each cookie halfway into the meted chocolate and set it on the wire rack. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and let stand for about 1 hour for the chocolate to harden. The cookies will keep for about 3 days in an airtight container.