Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies

During my last pregnancy my high risk doctor friend (ya, I know people) told me I needed to eat peanut butter to help reduce the chances of my son having a peanut allergy.  This conversation occurred somewhere in my third trimester.  Up until that point I rarely, if at all, ate any peanut products.  I wouldn't say I had an aversion, but I most definitely didn't crave peanuts or peanut butter.  Lucky for me, or perhaps lucky for Carter, my son doesn't have a peanut allergy.  But of course he hates peanut butter, both texture and taste.  He did, however, smile through half of a cookie before signing to me that he was "all done."

This time around I have been making an effort to consume peanut products to help reduce baby Della Favorite #2's chance of having a peanut allergy.  These cookies are delicious and satisfying, without being overly sweet.  They are also light on the sugar, especially if you use a sugar substitute, and who doesn't like a surprise filling?  Am I right?

You know I am.  If you love peanut butter and chocolate then this recipe is for you.

Some notes before we begin.  For a lower sugar option use Swerve or another sugar substitute, but these are light on the sugar even if you use the real thing.  You can substitute peanut butter for the nut butter of your choosing.  Also feel free to freeze the peanut butter filling for longer than 20 minutes, but I would not freeze them any less since they quickly soften with handling.  I ended up freezing my filling for about an hour as I got interrupted by a screaming toddler in the middle of my cookie making.  They still came out marvelous!
 

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies

Makes 10 cookies

Ingredients:
   Peanut Butter Filling: 

• 6 tablespoons natural peanut butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

   Chocolate Cookie Dough:

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

   Cinnamon Sugar Mix:

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. In medium bowl combine 6 tablespoons peanut butter and powdered sugar until fully combined
3. Divide peanut butter mixture into 10 mounds on parchment lined baking sheet.  Freeze peanut butter filling for 20 minutes until hardened

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
5.  In a medium bowl combine cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside for step 8
6. In large bowl combine butter,  sugars, and remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.  Then add in egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated
7. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredient and mix until fully combined to make chocolate cookie dough

 8.  Separate chocolate cookie dough into 10 balls

9. Remove peanut butter from freezer and immediately start step 10

10. Flatten chocolate cookie dough into a thin disk and add 1 piece of peanut butter filling to the center of the disk

11. Roll chocolate cookie dough around peanut butter into a ball so you can't see the peanut butter filling. Continue with remaining chocolate cookie dough and peanut butter filling until you have 10 balls filled with the peanut butter mixture

12. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl. Roll cookie balls into cinnamon sugar mix and place on parchment lined baking sheet

13. Flatten balls until about 1/4 inch thick with hands or fork.  I like to make a lattice pattern



16. Bake at preheated oven for 9 minutes until set and then transfer to cooling rack


While you can eat these at room temperature they are so much better when warmed.  I recommend allowing the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving with a nice glass of milk.

Oatmeal Raisin Candy Pizza

Well a few days went by and I didn't post my candy pizza recipe, but I am here, I have a few minutes, and we're doing it.  Better late than never right?  I've been making candy pizzas since I was a little girl.  I would bring these to soccer games and parties and they would be devoured in minutes.  Even at a young age there was something about seeing other people enjoying my food that made me feel happy.  

I created this candy pizza recipe after staring at a surplus of oatmeal that neither my husband or I wanted to eat.

My husband likes his oatmeal sweet and apparently Trader Joe's Oatmeal Complete is not sweet enough.  Honestly, I never tried this because I try and stay away from foods with added sugars as they make my sugar cravings more intense.

I had a trusty pizza pan that I had used and abused for years, but sadly it had to go to retirement.  I ordered the above pizza pan on Amazon, not realizing that it was a 10 inch pan.  This ended up being a perfect size pan for a small group (I made this for a party of 10 and everyone got a large slice).  You can make this for a larger party with a standard sized pizza pan just make sure to double the recipe.  I normally make chocolate chip cookie as the base, but any cookie (sugar, peanut butter, snickerdoodle) can be substituted.  Feel free to use your imagination!  

OATMEAL RAISIN CANDY PIZZA

Ingredients

1/2 cup of flour

3/4 cup of instant flavored oatmeal (I used 2 packets of Trader Joe's Complete Brown Sugar and Maple Oatmeal)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 stick butter, softened 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 beaten egg

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

1.5 ounces semi sweet chocolate (chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks)

Peanut butter

Toppings of choice (candy, shredded coconut, powder sugar, sprinkles)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Line a 10 inch pizza pan with parchment paper

3. In a small bowl mix flour, oatmeal, and baking powder.  Reserve for later

4. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl

5. Add egg, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Mix until incorporated

6. Mix in the oatmeal dry mix and raisins   

7. Place all the cookie dough on a parchment paper lined pizza pan  

8.  Flatten dough evenly over the pan in the shape of a pizza

9.  Bake cookie for 15 mins or until cookie dough is cooked through

10.  While the cookie is cooking chop the candy into small pieces.  Reserve for later after we spread the cookie pizza

11.  Once the cookie is done cooking immediately top it with chocolate chips and peanut butter so it can soften and spread easily.  (I use about 2-4 tablespoons peanut butter, but I don't normally measure this.) As the peanut butter and chocolate begin to soften spread the mixture evenly over the cookie leaving the "crust" as if you were spreading sauce on pizza dough

12.  Immediately top with the toppings of your choice.  As everything cools it will stick together