Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

It's cold and crappy outside. What else is there to do but bake, drink coffee, and watch old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and That 70's Show? Seriously, what else???


COOKIES
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (the natural kind, not the hydrogenated crud)
1/2 cup vegan shortening, softened (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 white sugar (organic preferred)
1/2 cup brown sugar (organic preferred)
1/4 cup soy or nut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

• Cream together peanut butter, shortening, and both sugars until fluffy and pale. It will take several minutes to reach the right consistency.
• Add vanilla and milk. Mix until well-blended.
• Add baking soda and salt. Continue to mix.
• Gently add flour, a half cup at a time, until mixed in well (be careful not to over-mix). Scrape the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula.
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare your filling... (see filling recipe below)
• After you have prepared the filling, and your dough is nicely chilled, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
• You'll need a big, flat area to roll out your dough. I used my kitchen table. Sprinkle your table with flour (use more as needed) and rub your rolling pin with flour too. Roll out the dough in batches (I did a third of the dough at a time). Make each batch about a quarter of an inch thick and use a circular cookie cutter or a glass (which is what I used) to cut nice, uniform circles into your dough. Gently place each piece of dough, two inches apart, onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, using a thin spatula.
• Bake for 10 minutes. 
• When you take the cookies out of the oven, leave them to sit on the cookie sheet until they are cool. They will break very easily if you don't. But, once they have cooled, they will be very sturdy.
• Once they have cooled, stack them and set them at the work station where you intend to cram them with filling.

FILLING
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (ditto what I said above about the natural stuff)
1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery spread, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar (organic preferred)
2 tablespoons soy creamer

• Cream together the peanut butter and Earth Balance until fluffy.
• Add the vanilla and continue mixing. 
• Add the sugar and continue mixing. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
• Add the soy creamer a tablespoon at a time, mixing well each time. 
• Place about a tablespoon of filling in between two cookies and gently squeeze until it reaches the outside edges. 
• Give one to your kid and another to your husband to shut them up so you can finish the rest!
• Repeat. Eat!
• Makes between 12 and 16 cookie sandwiches, depending on how big you cut your cookies.
• Enjoy! 

Just for funsies, I used the new Star Wars pancake molds I got for my birthday on some of the cookie dough. They turned out great! It inspired talk with my husband about a Star Wars-themed Christmas party...
 

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