Peanut Butter Stuffed

Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen

Source: The Clumbsy Cookie blog, the Cookie Madness blog, and the Pillsbury website. The links are included below.

Oh, how I love a peanut butter cookie. I love peanut butter in just about anything, even (and maybe especially) ice cream. Yum. The other day, I found this fabulous recipe on this really fun cookie blog called The Clumbsy Cookie. All I did was look at the pictures, and I was in love. So, I was pretty excited to try them, I don't mind telling you.

Okay, so I started with this peanut butter cookie recipe, which I found at the above link, but which actually comes from this blog, Cookie Madness.

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky (less sweet peanut butters work best)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted flour —if you don’t sift, use 1 1/3 cup

I normally don't keep dark brown sugar around. But, as it turns out, when I went to make the cookies, I didn't have any brown sugar at all around, so I ran to the store. I honestly don't know how much of a difference it makes to have dark brown rather than light brown sugar. I'll let you experiment with that on your own. I can tell you, however, that this cookie dough is amazing. I had to physically stop myself from eating it.

Here is where the cookie gets interesting.

In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of peanut butter with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. It should look (and taste) like a drier, more crumbly, but sweeter version of peanut butter.

Then, chop up a couple big squares of dark chocolate into little bits. I used a nice 70% dark chocolate bar, and 2 squares was enough for about half the batch.

Also, mix together 1 tsp cinnamon with 1/4 cup sugar.

Now that your preparations are made, it's time to get serious. Start by washing your hands. You might want to have a hand soap you love nearby, because seriously, I think I washed mine at least 25 times today. Start with a little ball of dough, and smash it flat in your hand.

Add in the chopped chocolate...

And a little glob of peanut butter/powdered sugar...

And wrap the edges around into a nice neat little package.

Now roll the whole thing in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on a cookie sheet for baking.

I have to admit, I was a little leery about the cinnamon and peanut butter together, but as it turns out, there was no need to fear. It's a delicious combination. Those of you who are actually reading through all this and looking at the links might have also noted that I left out the peanuts. The funny thing about that is that while my family is picky about nuts, they do actually eat peanuts. But I don't really like them in the peanut butter cookie. It's a quirk, I know. I say, it's your choice.

The recipe calls for baking at 375 degrees for 7-12 minutes. I think that is quite a large window of baking time. I baked mine for about 10 minutes, and they turned out beautifully. They were slightly crispy on the outside, with all this lovely and gooey chocolaty and peanut-buttery yumminess inside.

I did bake some up plain, without the filling inside, and honestly, I wish I hadn't. What was I thinking? Leaving chocolate out would make the cookie better?

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