Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

I hope you’re not thinking “another peanut butter recipe?”  I know it was just yesterday that we talked about peanut butter waffles, but I couldn’t wait to share these cookies.  They’ve been on my to-do list for a while, and I baked them yesterday in anticipation of needing a snack during a long night/early morning full of royal wedding mania.  I couldn’t trust myself to respond to a 4 am alarm so I stayed up most of the night to watch the historic event with many of my Twitter buddies and I think it was well worth it.  I was too young to watch Charles and Diana’s wedding so this was my first royal wedding experience and it definitely lived up to the hype.

But about the cookies… I’d seen them on Annie’s site originally, and I was hooked the minute she mentioned they were similar to Nutter Butters.  Oh how I loved those cookies back in the day!  I haven’t had them in years and probably won’t ever again because these are even better.  The peanut butter oatmeal cookies are soft and chewy with a luscious peanut butter frosting sandwiched in the middle.  The filling calls for heavy cream, which I realized I didn’t have only after I got started, so I subbed half and half and it worked fine.  I haven’t pulled an all-nighter since law school, and a few of these sandwiches powered me through.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get my errands done so there’s time for a quick nap this afternoon 🙂

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
originally from Allrecipes (as seen on Annie’s Eats)

Cookies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg and vanilla.  Beat to incorporate.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.  Finally, add the oats and beat briefly to distribute evenly.

Use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are golden and puffed, and the edges are set.  (I did 12 cookies per sheet and baked only one sheet at a time.)  Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer then to the wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat to bake all dough.

To make the filling: Combine the butter, peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium speed until smooth.  Add the heavy cream and beat until fluffy.  Match the cookies in pairs by size.  Transfer the filling to a piping bag and pipe a small amount onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair.  Sandwich the cookies together, and press the filling to the edges.  

Makes about 18 sandwich cookies