Peanut Butter Middles Cookies

The perfect pairing of Chocolate and Peanut Butter in cookie form!

1 hour

Serves: 30-36 cookies

Medium

They look like chocolate cookies on the outside but the creamy peanut butter center will surely surprise and delight anyone who takes a bite!

Ok, these Peanut Butter Middles Cookies might be some of my favorite cookies of all time! The perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate is the centerpiece of these goodies. They’re made extra special by having the peanut butter hidden in the middle. Making these cookies is a bit more time consuming and complicated than your average drop cookie, but they are so worth it.

The recipe is pretty straightforward and consists of making two separate doughs and then wrapping the second around the first. The first dough of peanut butter and powdered sugar I tried to combine with a hand mixer. That didn’t work so well. I think I’d recommend just doing it with your hands. Just get a little dirty with this one and I think it’ll be easier. You can easily weigh the dough and then divide it out exactly, but honestly, just eyeballing it is close enough. The second, chocolate dough, comes together just as any cookie dough recipe would.

The trickiest part of these cookies is combining them together. I found it really easy to just scoop the chocolate dough out with a tablespoon (just to keep the size consistent) and then roll it into a ball and flatten it out in my hand. Then place a peanut butter dough ball in the middle and pull the chocolate dough up around to fully wrap it. Pinch closed to seal. This whole process make this recipe really fun to do with kids as well!

These cookies go great with a cold glass of milk! You can freeze them as well, but if you do, definitely let them come to room temperature before eating. They are quite dense! If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Or, share a picture with me on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Preheat Oven to 350º
Make the filling
Combine the powdered sugar and 3/4 Cup of the peanut butter. I started with a hand mixer and that made quite a mess and finished by hand. I would suggest stirring the two ingredient together and then using your hands to fully combine until smooth. The end result should be a dense ball. Next, divide this into 30-36 small balls and set aside.
Cream the Butter and Sugars
Now, we'll make the exterior of the cookies. Start by creaming your room temperature butter and the 1/2 Cup of sugar and 1/2 Cup of brown sugar. Mix in your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) for about two minutes to get the butter and sugars completely creamed together. It should look light and fluffy.
Add Peanut Butter
Add the remaining 1/4 Cup peanut butter and mix to combine.
Add Egg and Vanilla
Add in the egg and the vanilla and mix again to combine.
Combine Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, combine your all purpose flour, cocoa and baking soda. Whisk to combine until it's all a uniform color.
Add Dry Ingredients
Working in about 3-4 batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients about a 1/2 cup or so at a time and mixing for about 30 seconds between each addition until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Form the Cookies
Once all the dry ingredients have been added and the chocolate dough is all combined, start forming the cookies. Start by taking about a tablespoon of the chocolate dough and flattening it into a disk. Next, place one of the peanut butter balls in the center. Gently wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter pall and press it sealed to close. Lightly roll the ball in your hand to smooth it out and place it on the cookie tray.
Flatten the Cookies
Once you have your cookie trays loaded with your dough balls, take a glass that's been dipped in sugar and use the sugar-coated bottom of the glass to gently press down each cookie ball.
Bake for 7-9 Minutes
Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes each. Allow to cool on the cookie tray for about 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully before storing.