Magic Peanut Butter Middle Cookies

Every year growing up, I would get excited for Christmas time.  This was not only because of the gifts and tree, but because my best friend's Mother would make an assortment of cookies and give me a plate without fail!  Included in the plate, and by far the best cookie, was the Magic Peanut Butter Middle Cookie- the holy grail of chocolate cookies. Now that I am older, I finally asked my friend for the recipe so that I could make them myself (and in May no less)!  However, I can also see why she made them only once a year - this is quite an involved recipe and if done incorrectly can be extremely frustrating.  I have included my tricks to make these tough cookies fail proof.

Ingredients:

Cookie:

1 1/2 Cups - All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup - Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon - Baking Soda
1/2 Cup - Sugar
1/2 Cup - Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup - Unsalted Butter, at Room Temperature
1/4 Cup - Peanut Butter
1 Teaspoon - Vanilla Extract
1 - Large Egg

1.5 Tablespoons Milk 

Filling:

3/4 Cup - Powdered Sugar
3/4 Cup - Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (optional)

Icing:

1 cup  powdered sugar
4 to 5 tsp.  milk, divided
Favorite sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Next, make the filling. Combine the confectioners sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter.  Beat well with electric mixer until mixture comes together.

Add Reese's Peanut Butter Chips and mix well.

Roll filling into 30 1 inch balls.  To expedite this, use a tablespoon to scoop roughly the same amount of filling  into your hands and mold into a sphere using a circular motion.  Put the filling balls on a plate and place in the freezer for the duration of making the cookie batter - this will ensure that the filling will keep its form when you are shaping the dough around the filling.

In a small bowl, blend the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.

In a large bowl beat white sugar, brown sugar, butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter, until light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and the egg, beat until blended.

Stir in flour mixture, in thirds, until blended.  Add a splash of milk to ensure your batter will not become too dry. Set aside.

Take the filling out of the freezer and set up an area to place the completed cookies on a cookie sheet.

 Form exterior part of cookie by sectioning dough into approximately 1 tablespoon pieces and then shaping the exterior part of cookie around filling balls.  Cover the filling completely. (This can be very trying... especially if your chocolate cookie dough is too dry). Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.

 Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. I baked each batch for about 8.5 minutes.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes then remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Finally, to make the icing, Mix the powdered sugar and 4 tsp. of the milk until well blended. Stir in remaining 1 tsp. milk, if necessary for desired consistency- I skipped this step. Drizzle small amount of icing on each cookie. Sprinkle with sprinkles!

Warning, everyone who eats these cookies will love them so much you will be forced to make them every Christmas!

-Chef Hallie