What happens when you combine fudgy brownies with a delicious peanut butter frosting? Peanut butter brownie sandwich cookies! Fun to put together and rich enough for any dessert, this recipe will find its way onto your “best” list, for sure.
Psst…You’ll want to check out our other simple cookies from scratch recipes, too.
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If you haven’t guessed by now, peanut butter and chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combinations.
What can I say? I’m a sucker, a magnet really, for anything that combines these two ingredients (no surprise to some of you, I’m sure).
And you, my sweet friends, will just have to come with me through my peanut butter-chocolate dreams. Let’s count the ways that I’ve loved this combo in the past:
- There’s the Peanut Butter Swirl Bar ode to my childhood.
- A Peanut Butter Blondie (whole grain and with added chocolate chips of course).
- Another whole grain offering in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars, (more of an oaty, granola bar cookie versus the blondie, just in case you thought they were the same thing…).
- My search for a soft peanut butter cookie ended with Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies.
- You’ll find peanut butter in the frosting of Chocolate Topped Oatmeal Bars.
- And most of the time I use the peanut butter and mini chocolate chip versions of our staple Granola Bites and No-Bake Granola Bars.
But the most delectable is probably the awesome Peanut Butter-Chocolate Celebration Cake. Although if we’re celebrating an event or the simply the cake’s combo of peanut butter and chocolate, it’s anybody’s guess.
Peanut Butter Brownie Sandwich Cookies
So when I saw this recipe, well, it was only a matter of time before I adapted it to add for my collection. Part of the adapting was increasing the chocolate and decreasing the sugar, which makes these more of a dark chocolate brownie – my favorite.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these simple cookies:
- chocolate chips, dark or semisweet
- butter
- eggs
- sugar
- vanilla
- flour (only a little over 1/4 cup!)
- baking powder
- peanut butter
- powdered sugar
- butter
- milk
Supplies
- Medium mixing bowl & electric mixer (for frosting especially)
- Microwavable glass bowl (or pan and bowl for stovetop double boiler)
- Baking sheets (these USA made pans are my favorite)
- Parchment or silicone liners (TIP: I prefer black liners since they cook more evenly – I cut the oven liners to fit my baking sheets)
- Smaller size cookie scoop
- Cooling rack
Directions
There are four easy steps to making the cookies:
- Melt the chocolate and butter.
- Mix the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
- Stir in flower, baking powder, and the cooled chocolate.
- Scoop onto a lined baking sheet.
Bake until the tops are crackly and let them cool. While they’re cooling, whip together the frosting ingredients.
Then it’s just a matter of matching up pairs and frosting one side to create a delicious cookie sandwich!
Oh, and testing one of course.
The other adaptation I made to the original recipes was making the cookies smaller, too, because these are rich when they’re all put together.
And with sandwich cookies, we are having two cookies at a time after all, so we do what we can, right?
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Peanut Butter Brownie Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- Tablespoon size cookie scoop
- Baking sheets
- Parchment or silicone liners (optional)
- Mixing bowl & measuring cups
Ingredients
Brownie Cookies:
- 2 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (a 12-ounce bag)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Peanut Butter Frosting:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions
Make the Cookies:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees; melt the chocolate chips with the butter until semi-smooth with some lumps of chocolate remaining (it's okay if it's totally melted and smooth, but leaving some of the chips unmelted creates little bursts of chocolate in the finished cookie) – either in a saucepan or microwave. Let cool.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together in a stand mixer for 3-5 minutes. Add the flour and baking powder along with the cooled chocolate, stirring until completely mixed. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Line two cookie sheets with silicone or parchment. Using a small cookie scoop (or just under a tablespoon), drop the dough onto the sheets. Flatten a bit with your hand – they won’t spread much, so you can space them fairly close.
- Bake 7-8 minutes only – the tops will look cracked like brownies. Cool for 10 minutes on the trays before cooling completely on a wire rack.
Make the Frosting:
- Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. If the frosting seems too stiff, add more milk or cream – but only 1/2 tsp. at a time.
To Assemble:
- Match up pairs of cookies roughly the same size and spread a couple of teaspoons of frosting on one half before topping with the other half.
Notes
Nutrition
More Delicious Cookies to Try:
This recipe had been updated – it was originally published in March of 2013.
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Jenny says
I made these and my husband loved them, the neighbors loved them, and the knitting group loved them. I loved that there weren’t a jillion left after that for me to eat!
I don’t bake cookies very often, and these were just fussy enough that I won’t do them unless there is a special occasion. But they were very good!
Kim F says
Made these cookies today. They are amazing. I live at high altitude and my cookie batter was very loose and my cookies spread out much more than yours. This is common with high altitude baking. Next time I’ll just add a tad more flour. My family tried the cookies and loved them even before I added the PB filling so I am skipping the filling. I think these brownie cookies would also be great with some toasted, chopped walnuts! Thanks for sharing this great recipe. Such a delicious, rich treat!
Kim F says
I cannot wait to make these!
Primrose says
Oh boy…these look amazing! And, I love that all the ingredients are normal…and already in my food cupboards 🙂 We’re having a special event on Friday for “Women’s Day” and these might just end up on the menu!! I love having new ‘tried and tested’ recipes to make for special occasions like this.
Jami says
I’m sure your group will enjoy them – I shared them with our home group and they were a hit as well. I’m so glad it’s not just me who likes the pb-chocolate combination, ha! And using your precious chocolate chips in this way I think will prove worthy. 🙂
Primrose says
A test run has been planned for tomorrow evening – we need a test run, right?! No chocolate chips in my cupboards any more though…it’s too long since we’ve been in the land of chocolate chips, so it’ll be chopped-up chocolate bars 🙂 A little more work, but the same result.
Jami says
Of course, duh, chopped chocolate. 🙂
Liz says
Here I am trying to get ready to make the cinnamon rolls and you hit me with these? killin’ me woman, killin’ me!
Jami says
Ha! I know, I’ve gotta plan for a ‘regular’ food post this next week. 🙂
Crystal says
Yummy!! I love frosting between cookies!! Can’t wait to make these!! Thanks so much!
Tori says
I just had 7 teeth pulled yesterday and this shows up in my email. Pure torture! Can’t wait until I’m all healed up so I can make these delightful-looking sandwiches.
Jami says
Oh my that’s a lot of teeth! I hope you feel better soon. 🙂
Tori says
Thank you! It is. I had my 4 wisdom teeth out, plus 3 others as part of my orthodontic treatment. It’s what happens when you don’t get braces until you’re 25. I’m actually healing very quickly, but I’m starving on this liquid/soft foods diet 🙂