peanut butter me up

People who know me well know that I don't squeal or get particularly sappy about much of anything*, but when I first saw these cookies, I thought they were absolutely adorable. It's the closest I've come to making an "awww!" noise in a long time**.

*My precious niece excepted.
**The last baby-unrelated trigger was probably a Corgi puppy.

So cute, so surprisingly easy to accomplish, so tasty! You might expect the cookies to be crunchy and crisp, but they're not. They're very similar to classic peanut butter cookies in that the edges are a bit toothsome, but the majority of those peanut butter cookie slices of bread are soft and chewy and delicious. They spread only a tad bit in the oven and still keep their distinguishing bread shape.

The filling is obviously only as good as the jam or jelly you use, since that's all it is. Don't go with anything too watery, as peanut butter cookie bread slices don't absorb liquid quite as well as bread bread slices. You only need a small dollop, or else you run the risk of squeezing sticky jelly out onto your fingers and brand new shirt.

Epiphanic thought: Nutella or chocolate ganache would be outstanding between these sandwich cookie cookies!

PB&J Sandwich Cookie Sandwiches
(barely adapted from Erica's Sweet Tooth)
Makes about 2 dozen sandwiches
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2-1/2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Jelly or jam flavor of your choice

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the peanut butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and beat until just combined.
Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rectangular block. Using your fingers or some sort of impromptu apparatus (I used the bottom end of my bench scraper), pinch along the middle of the top and along the two sides to form indentations along the length of the block so the dough looks like a bread loaf. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When dough is chilled, unwrap the dough and use a sharp knife to cut slices of 1/4" thickness. Place 1" apart on a parchment paper or silpat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes (less than 6 minutes in a convection oven), or until edges just begin to brown. Cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the sandwiches, take one cookie slice and spread with a small dollop of jelly. Match cookie with another slice of similar size and voila--your sandwich is complete!