Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

My husband's birthday was this month and Brenna and I wanted to make something special for him for dinner, because at my house, food equals love!  I asked him what he wanted for dinner and what kind of cake he wanted.  He chose tacos for the main dish and said he didn't want any cake.  WHAT?!?  No cake?!?  Unheard of.  So in order to honor his wishes we decided we would make some type of cookie...he never said no cookies!  I found a couple of recipes that looked intriguing and decided to just combine parts of them, add a few things we had in the fridge that needed to be used up and see what we came up with.  Drum roll please...the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookie was born.  These sandwich cookies have a peanut butter cream cheese filling and taste like a glorified Nutter Butter cookie...which as an added bonus just happen to be one of my husband's favorite cookies!  They are pretty rich and sweet, but so incredibly good!  I love sweets and even I couldn't eat more than 1 in a sitting...plus I had to have a glass of milk.  The kids loved them and even my husband was glad I ignored the no cake request.  If he had requested a cake I would have probably had to make a boring cherry chip cake (yuck!).  These cookies are 100 times better!  Cherry chip what?!?  Exactly!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

*Makes approximately 17 sandwich cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. quick cooking oats

3 tbsp. butter, softened

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

4 oz. cream cheese

2 1/2 tbsp. french vanilla coffee creamer

1 c. powdered sugar

The Assistant Chef preparing Daddy's surprise cookies!  She was very excited!

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.

She got to mix first with the whisk.  Then I helped using the electric hand mixer.  I personally think the hand mixer is easier, but that's just me.

Add the egg and blend well.

The peanut butter mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture.  I'm not sure why she opted for the "spoonful by spoonful method" vs the "dump whole bowl method".

Assistant Chef mixing the batter.

Almost done!

Add the oats and mix well.



Using a tablespoon sized measuring spoon, scoop out even amounts of batter and using your hands roll into balls.  Place on a greased baking sheet.



Using a glass cup, flatten the cookies into uniform circles about 1/4" thick.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 mins.  Remove from oven and let stand one minute on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to wire racks to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, peanut butter, cream cheese and coffee creamer.

Using a hand mixer, blend well until very smooth.

Add the powdered sugar and blend well.

Place cookies upside down on a plate.  Place a generous amount of the filling on each cookie.

Top with another cookie and press down gently, spreading the filling evenly.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies!

Happy Birthday!

Recipe for: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

To prepare: Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a cookie sheet.  Recipe yields approximately 17 sandwich cookies.

Ingredients

Directions

½ c. butter, softened     ½ c. creamy peanut butter     ½ c. white sugar     ½ c. packed brown sugar     1 tsp. vanilla extract     1 egg     ¾ c. all-purpose flour     ½ tsp. baking soda     ¼ tsp. baking powder     ½ tsp. salt     1 c. quick cooking oats     3 tbsp. butter, softened     ½ c. creamy peanut butter     4 oz. cream cheese     2 ½ tbsp. vanilla coffee creamer      1 c. powdered sugar

1.       In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla using an electric hand mixer. 2.       Add the egg and blend well. 3.       In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 4.       Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. 5.       Add the oats and mix well. 6.       Using a tablespoon sized measuring spoon, scoop out even amounts of batter and using your hands roll into balls.  Place on the prepared baking sheet. 7.       Using a glass cup, gently flatten each ball into a ¼” thick circle. 8.       Bake in a preheated oven for 10 mins.  Let cookies rest for one minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool. 9.   In a small bowl make the filling by creaming together the butter, peanut butter, cream cheese and coffee creamer until smooth. 10. Add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth. 11. Place one cookie upside down on a plate. 12. Add a generous scoop of filling onto the center of the cookie. 13. Top with a second cookie and gently press down,  evenly spreading the filling between the two. 14. Repeat steps 11-13 until all the cookies are used up.