Bird Feed: A Cookie to Save My World a.k.a. Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

When you feel like this, I have a cookie for you:

I actually remembered to take a picture
before eating this last one.

The Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies recipe from Annie's Eats is ridiculously delicious. I was looking for a couple of recipes that could withstand the mail and turned to my trusty recipe to-do list when I remembered these babies. I don't make sandwich cookies all that often, mostly because the cookie ends up too puffy or crumbly or some other attribute that sounds whiny but just doesn't allow for cookie sandwich success.

After having a few good experiences with recipes on the Annie's Eats blog, I had a little faith and ended up thoroughly impressed. This is my favorite type of peanut butter cookie - not too hard, not to soft, a slightly chewy and not cakey. It was a perfect sandwich storm. The filling is appropriately sweet, and I look forward to making these again with small filling flavor tweaks like jam, chocolate and chopped candy bars. 

Here's the recipe - or get it right from the source:

Cookies:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda (1/4 for high altitude)

¼ tsp. baking powder (1/4 for high altitude)

½ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup quick-cooking oats (not old fashioned!)

Filling:

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tbsp. heavy cream

Directions:

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Stir together with a fork to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla extract.  Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Stir in the oats until evenly blended.

Use a small cookie dough scoop to portion out the dough (about 2 teaspoons), rolling each portion into a ball, and place them on the prepared cookie sheet, a couple inches apart.  Bake about 10 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through baking.  The cookies will be light golden brown and slightly puffed.  Let cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once the cookies have cooled completely, pair them up by size.  To make the filling, combine the butter, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Cream together until well combined.  Mix in the heavy cream until smooth and fluffy.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip to pipe a swirl of filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair.  Sandwich together with the remaining cookie and press down so that the filling reaches the edges.