Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Remember Nutter Butter cookies? As a child, these were one of my favorite cookies, but these days I prefer the homemade variety. This recipe is similar in flavor (yummy peanut butter!) but is a chewy version. I used homemade peanut butter so the icing had a great nutty texture. (FYI, I love homemade peanut butter! It is so much better than the store bought variety and Justin is my champion peanut butter maker. He's got the patience required to make it smooth and creamy. It's really easy to do; all you need is some peanuts and a food processor. Just pulse them until a paste forms and you attain your desired consistency. It might take a couple of minutes. You'll see the change; it goes from ground peanuts, then the oil in the nuts take over and a butter comes together. This technique would work with any nut, so try to make almond or cashew butter if you want.)

Ok, back to the cookies! The cookie has oatmeal in it, so you can tell yourself it's good for you! The cookies is chewy on the inside with nice slightly crisp edges. I did have a slightly wet dough, so I added a bit more flour to the original recipe and it turned out great. (You can use your judgement here to determine if your dough needs more flour.) The cookie would be a great peanut butter oatmeal cookie to eat all by itself, but I go the extra mile and add icing. Must have more SUGAR! The icing is delicious and actually tastes a lot like the icing from the Nutter Butter cookies, without all of that added junk in it. The icing recipe calls for heavy cream, but I was out so I used milk and my icing was probably a little thicker and less fluffy than the original recipe. (You can decide which you'd prefer.) Anyway, I think I've talked/rambled enough for today! Here's the recipe.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Adapted from this recipe at Annie's Eats blog.

For the Cookies:

• 3/4 C to 1 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 Tsp baking powder
• 1/4 Tsp baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
• 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tsp vanilla
• 1 C quick cooking oats

For the Icing:

• 3 Tbsp softened butter
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp heavy cream or milk

For the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir together. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butters, and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla until incorporated. Then, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Stir in the oats. Spoon about 2 teaspoons worth of dough onto cookie sheet, a couple of inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden and still slightly puffed. Let cool on a wire rack.

Once the cookies cool, pair them up with a similar sized cookie. To make the filling, combine the peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar in a mixer until blended. Mix in the heavy cream (or milk) until fluffy and smooth. Pipe with a pastry bag and tip, or spoon the icing on the bottom side of one of your cookies. Sandwich together with another cookie and press down so the filling goes to the edge. Enjoy!