Magic in the Middle Cookies
If you like chocolate and peanut butter in cookie form, you are sure to love these cookies. Last week I made a meal for a friend at work and decided to try out some new cookies to send along with the healthy stuff. 🙂 I saw these on a new blog that I’ve been reading, mykitchencafe, and they looked awesome. Plus I noticed that the recipe came from King Arthur Flour, which I love 🙂
These are are full of some serious peanut butter and chocolate flavor! You roll a small ball of the peanut butter “filling” (peanut butter mixed with powdered sugar), then roll a larger ball of the chocolate cookie mixture (the cookie dough tastes awesome by the way). You create a dent in the chocolate part, and somehow roll it around the peanut butter part. This was easier than I thought it would be. Then you flatten the cookies with a drinking glass. I think this step is what spreads out the peanut butter part in the middle of the cookie. Yum. I really like these. Mike doesn’t like peanut butter cookies, so we’re disregarding his rating. I made him a few with just the chocolate part, though, and he loved those.
Magic in the Middle Cookies
Ingredients:
Chocolate Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for rolling)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
Peanut butter filling:
3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk, beating to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.
To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners sugar until smooth. With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 26 one-inch balls.
To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough. Make an indentation in the center with your finger and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation Bring the cookie dough up and over the filling, pressing the edges together cover the center; roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick.
Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.
from King Arthur Flour