Flourless Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies and Adopt a Blogger!

Kristen at Dine and Dish has a wonderful project called Adopt a Blogger. New bloggers are paired up with bloggers who have been blogging at least a year to provide help, encouragement and blogger love to new bloggers. I wish I would have know about this project when I started blogging!!  To Read More, Click On The Recipe Title.
I’d like to introduce you to Melissa from Baking For the Boys my adopted blogger. Here’s a little background on Melissa:I’ve been blogging since 2006 when my husband and I moved to Idaho. It was a great tool to keep friends and family posted on our adventures there. We now live in Texas (our home state) and have an eight month old boy. He keeps me on my toes!
I love to bake and cook. . . love everything food. I am a graduate of The Art Institute of Houston’s International School of Culinary Arts and have worked in restaurants, specialty food stores and bakeries. I’ve taken a sabbatical from the food industry and am staying home to raise my son. My food blog is my outlet to the culinary world. Being that my time is limited having a new baby (he is a very intense little baby). . . it takes me forever to get a post out. I try to post at least twice a month.Melissa with that kind of a culinary background I should be your adopted blogger!! Please go visit Melissa and spread the blogger love, she absolutely deserves it! Her blog is filled with wonderful recipes that you’ll absolutely love. She makes me proud to be an adopt a blogger mamma!

Flourless Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Does this every happen to you…. you have an idea in your head of what you want something to be like, in my case peanut butter cookies. I wanted a soft peanut butter cookie, a cookie like the Archway cookies I bought years ago. I’ve been searching and trying recipes to try and create something that would come close to that cookie for awhile now. After trying lots of flour cookies a light bulb went on in my scary little head,….flourless cookies. I loved the flourless chocolate souffle cake I made, I needed to at least try this concept. I went on a search that yielded many flourless peanut butter cookie recipes, but fell in love with this one from Fine Cooking. Oh yes this cookie is good! My taste tasters at work loved this cookie!! It was peanut buttery with just the right amount of chocolate in between. After the staff had their taste I told them they were flourless. What??? This tender melt in your mouth cookie is flourless?? I even had a customer ask me if I was going to make them for the restaurant. The chocolate filling recipe makes a lot of filling, I had tons left over, next time I’ll half the recipe. Other than that, this is the perfect peanut butter sandwich cookie!!

Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

Flourless Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Fine Cooking

Ingredients;

2-1/2 cups smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the chocolate filling:

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Tip:
Substitute semisweet chocolate for the bittersweet in the filling for a sweeter kick.
Make the cookies:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Line four cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, and baking soda on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low speed until just blended, about 25 seconds.

Shape level tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Arrange the balls 1-1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Do not press down. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are puffed and crackled but still moist-looking, about 11 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool about 10 minutes. Using a spatula, move the cookies to the rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Make the filling:

Melt the chocolate and the butter in the microwave or in a medium heatproof bowl set in a skillet with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside until cool and slightly thickened, 20 to 30 minutes.
Assemble the sandwiches:

Turn half of the cooled cookies over so they are flat side up. Spoon 2 tsp. of the chocolate filling onto the center of each cookie. Top with the remaining cookies, flat side down. Press gently on each cookie to spread the filling almost to the edge. Set on the rack until the filling is firm, 20 to 30 minutes.

Make Ahead Tips:

The balls of dough may be frozen before baking for 1 month. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.