Week 15: Peanut-Butter-Filled Snickerdoodles

Two of my favorite cookies are Snickerdoodles and Peanut Butter Cookies. My mama would make Snickerdoodles only on occasion when I was growing up and even today, they are a very special treat.

Peanut Butter Cookies were more often found in the cookie jar. I learned how to bake them when I was young and they are my papa’s favorites, too.

So, when I thought about a great recipe for today, I thought – combine them!

In doing my research for recipes, I found that the recipe for both were quite identical, save for adding peanut butter. So basically, this recipe is a peanut butter cookie that is filled with peanut butter and then rolled in cinnamon/sugar.

Peanut-Butter-Filled Snickerdoodles

Adapted from www.joyofbaking.com/printpages/Snickerdoodlesprint.html

Ingredients:

2 ½ c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 c butter, unsalted, room temp (2 sticks)
2/3 c peanut butter, creamy
¾ c brown sugar
½ c white sugar
½ c powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract

Filing:

½ c peanut butter, creamy
¼ c powdered sugar
generous pinch of sea salt

Coating:

1/3 c granulated white sugar
2 t ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix first four dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.
3. In another bowl, using a hand or stand mixer, mix up the filling. Roll pea-sized pieces with your hands and set aside on a plate.
4. In stand mixer, cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Mix in extract.
5. Add dry ingredients slowly just until incorporated.
6. Roll dough into 1 T balls using hands.
7. Flatten slightly and envelope one pea-sized filling piece and reform into a ball.
8. Roll in coating and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Using a fork, put cross hairs on each cookie to flatten. Dip fork in extra coating if needed to prevent sticking.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on racks and store in sealed container.