Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting
This has the same story as the Nutella Stuffed Cookies. I had made 4 or 5 different kinds of cookies/pastries for everyone that Christmas, and this was one of them, and it was a recipe I liked more than I thought I would. I want to note my sacrifice making this post while having to stare at pictures of chocolate cookies and peanut butter frosting with no plans of actually making the cookies because the struggle is real.
Chocolate Cookies
| Measurement | Ingredient | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Cups + 2 tbsp | Flour | |
| 2/3 Cup | Cocoa Powder | |
| 3/4 Cup | Butter | Listen, I know most cookie instructions say to use unsalted butter but they're wrong okay. Salt enhances flavor, even sweet flavor - use salted butter, trust. |
| 1/2 Cup | Granulated Sugar | |
| 1/4 Cup | Brown Sugar | Light is preferable but dark is fine if that's all you have |
| 1 Large | Egg | |
| 2 tsp | Vanilla Extract | If you 'accidentally' tip a bit extra in there, I didn't see anything |
| 1/4 tsp | Baking Powder |
Peanut Butter Frosting
| Measurement | Ingredient | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Cups | Powdered Sugar | |
| 1 1/2 Cups | Creamy Peanut Butter | |
| 1 cup | Butter | Room temp |
| 2-4 tbsp | Cream | |
| 1 tsp | Vanilla Extract |
- Oven Temp: 350F
- Cooking Time: 10-12 minutes
- Makes: 24-30 cookies (12-15 cookie sandwiches)
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
- For this step, first make sure you get your sister to return your stand mixer because she stole it for an obscene amount of time RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HOLIDAYS WHICH IS THE ONLY TIME I EVER BAKE COOKIES AND NEED THE STAND MIXER even though she can very well afford her own stand mixer. Then, cream the butter with the sugars until well mixed (~3 minutes). 3.Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- On low, add half the dry mix, mix loosely, then add the other half, mix until dough is formed but avoid overmixing.
- Roll out dough and chill for ~20 minutes. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper if you like to plan ahead, don't if you like to panic. I like to roll out my cookies to 1/4 inch or so, so the cookie part isn't too thicc.
- Cut out the cookies with whatever cutter you want.
- Transfer the cookies to the potentially preprepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, but you know the drill here - check 2 minutes before if your oven sucks which mine does.
- Cool on wire rack if you're fancy, plate if you're not.
- During the actual baking of the cookies, you can make the peanut butter frosting.
- In a large bowl, add butter and peanut butter, use electric mixer to combine until smooth. Yes, an electric mixer, we're living in the '90s and your parents refuse to buy a stand mixer and also the one you do have is literally full of cookie dough right now and we're not about to clean that just to use it again, but also you need to have the control for this part that you get with a hand mixer.
- Add in powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low until sugar is incorporated. If you have patience, add the sugar in a cup at a time and mix, it'll make less of a mess then. Try to avoid overmixing regardless of which method you use, mix until the sugar is just barely mixed in.
- If the frosting is thicker than you'd like, add heavy cream, 1/2 tbsp at a time, until you get the consistency you want.
- Plastic wrap that bad boy and stick it in the fridge.
- If you want to preprepare the piping bag, you can put some frosting into the piping bag, and stick that equally bad boy in the fridge too - try to seal off the end, this frosting doesn't like air. The idea is you want the frosting to get slightly cool to cold while you wait for the cookies to completely cool off.
- Once the cookies are cool, and the frosting is cool, and you are also cool - daily affirmations are good - you can begin to assemble the cookie sandwiches. I sincerely hope it's straightforward in regards to the how, but I will tell you anyway.
- Take a cookie, flip it upside down. Take the piping bag of frosting you potentially preprepared, pipe the frosting onto the upside down cookie. Take another cookie, do not flip this one upside down, place it on top of the frosting, right side up. Don't squish down too hard, you gotta make it instagrammable for the snap, when you start to eat it, it'll completely fall apart, but the picture has to be pretty, you feel?
Nutritional Information
- Alright, listen, I don't know. I'm not about to do the math cause it'll make me sad probably, so just assume it's in the 350-400 calorie per cookie sandwich range and just accept that you'll need to skip lunch to eat these.
