Peanut Butter Creme-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Welcome back to the Barbershop! To be honest, I had no real inspiration for this next recipe I'm about to share, other than the fact that the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is ALWAYS a hit in my book! And I always enjoy trying a new creation, of course. :) I found this recipe in my March issue of the magazine, "Everyday with Rachael Ray."

The recipe provided the instructions to make the chocolate cookies from scratch, but I will admit that I actually used my all-time favorite cookie shortcut, which is to make cake mix cookies. I used a Betty Crocker devil's food cake mix and followed the tried and true recipe that I posted about a while back on my blog (you can find it here!).

This time around I actually chopped up some hershey kisses and added them to the cookie batter for a little twist. I was going to add chocolate chips, but I had a lot of hershey kisses lying around and I thought I'd use them up. :)

I followed the peanut butter creme filling recipe from the magazine, which is:

-2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

-1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

-3 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar

-1/4 tsp. salt

All you have to do is cream together the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer, and then mix (still with the electric mixer) in the confectioner's sugar (sifted) and salt. Voila! 

I will say, though, that I actually "1.5'd" this recipe. So, I didn't quite double the filling recipe, but I did add 1.5 times the amount of each ingredient. Given the number of cookies I had (about 24 - good for 12 sandwich cookies), I thought I might need more filling than what the original recipe made (which was for 8 sandwich cookies). The proportions worked out perfectly, I must say! Then, all you have to do is just spread some filling on one cookie and top it with another. Done!

The cookies themselves are light, chewy, and chocolatey...and then the peanut butter creme filling is, simply put, awesome. Can you ever go wrong with the peanut butter/chocolate combination? I think not! You must try this one, friends. :)