peanut butter sandwich cookies

Spread creamy chocolate ganache in between two soft and chewy peanut butter cookies to make the most amazing peanut butter sandwich cookies.

These cookies are easy enough to make for an afternoon snack or a weeknight dessert.

Batches of peanut butter cookies come out of my oven on a regular basis. If I ask my husband what cookies he wants me to make these are always at the top of his list.

I've had this recipe in my recipe box since childhood. It makes soft and chewy cookies that are loaded with peanut butter flavor.

I've used it to make adorable 3-D Turkey Cookies and festive Jack-O-Lantern Cookies. I even used it as the base of a delicious Peanut Butter Cookie Sundae.

Video

Watch the video to see how easy these peanut butter sandwich cookies are to make. 

To make them taste even more amazing I love to sandwich two peanut butter cookies together with chocolate ganache filling.

The fudgy chocolate filling makes the cookies even softer and adds a decadent chocolate flavor that balances beautifully with the peanut butter.

The best part about this recipe is its simplicity. The cookies are easy to make and the chocolate ganache filling is too.

Make Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter - Butter adds a rich flavor to these cookies. You can use margarine, but butter will make better-tasting cookies.
• creamy peanut butter - Use the brand of peanut butter that you enjoy eating by the spoonful.
• light brown sugar - Makes your peanut butter cookies nice and chewy and gives the cookies a hint of molasses flavor.
• granulated sugar - Adds structure and sweetness to the cookies. It enhances browning and helps create crisp edges on the cookies.
• eggs - Eggs add stability and moistness to your cookies. Use large eggs in this recipe.
• all-purpose flour - The main source of structure for your cookies.
• baking soda - When baking soda is combined with an acid like brown sugar, it creates carbon dioxide gas, providing lift, and making your cookies puff up so they aren't flat.
• baking powder - The baking soda will help to neutralize the acid and create lift but if too much is added to a recipe it can make your cookies taste metallic, so baking powder is added to provide a little more lift.
• salt - Balances out the sweetness and enhances the peanut butter flavor.

Supplies:

• 1-ounce cookie (ice cream) scoop - This is optional but really helpful!
• cookie sheets - Your cookies will bake more evenly on heavy-duty aluminum cookie sheets.
• parchment paper or silicone mats - Cookies can stick to aluminum pans so line them with parchment paper (preferable) or silicone mats.

NOTE: If you bake your cookies on a non-stick pan, you may need to cut the baking time down by 1-2 minutes.

Instructions:

• Beat 1 cup of butter until light and fluffy then add 1 cup of peanut butter and beat until smooth.
• Add 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar and beat until well combined.
• Add 2 eggs and beat to combine.
• In a separate bowl stir together 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and salt.
• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and blend just until combined.
• Scoop out 1-ounce portions of the cookie dough and arrange them on a baking sheet.
• Flatten using a fork then rotate the cookies and flatten with the fork again.
• Bake in a 350-degree F (177° C) oven for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set and the tops of the cookies no longer look wet.
• Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking tray.
• Then you can move them to a cooling rack to cool completely or you can just leave them on the tray.

NOTES:

• I like to use my stand mixer to make this cookie dough.
• You can use a hand-held mixer for the wet ingredients but once you add the flour, you should mix the dough by hand so you don't burn out the motor in your mixer.

These cookies are delicious all on their own, but you can add a variety of fillings to make them even tastier. 

Sandwich cookie filling ideas:

• chocolate ganache - If you want to fill your cookies with a decadently creamy, rich, and delicious chocolate filling, make homemade chocolate ganache. It's easy using just 2 ingredients. I'll share the recipe below. 
• chocolate frosting - If you don't want to make homemade chocolate ganache, you can simply spread store-bought chocolate frosting in between two of these soft and chewy peanut butter cookies. 
• Nutella - Chocolate hazelnut spread would taste delicious as a filling for these peanut butter sandwich cookies.
• peanut butter - If you just can't get enough peanut butter flavor, simply spread peanut butter in between. 
• jelly - Turn these cookies into a PB&J sandwich using your favorite jelly, jam, or fruit preserves. Fill them the day you plan to serve them and store them in the refrigerator. 

Make chocolate ganache filling.

Making chocolate ganache is quite easy, but you can have trouble if you overheat or underheat your cream. You can see my very detailed tutorial including troubleshooting tips for making smooth and creamy chocolate ganache, on HungryHappenings.com.

Here are the basics.

Ingredients:

• semi-sweet chocolate - It's best to use a bar or block of chocolate. Chop the chocolate into small uniformly-sized pieces. You can use chips, but they contain emulsifiers to ensure they maintain their shape at high temperatures, so they won't melt as quickly as finely chopped chocolate bars.
• heavy whipping cream - Heavy whipping cream contains 36% butterfat and adds richness and creaminess to chocolate ganache.

Instructions:

• Pour 8 ounces of finely chopped chocolate into a shallow bowl.
• Create a well in the center of the chocolate (a hole where you can see the bottom of the bowl). This will allow the cream to get under the chocolate more easily.
• Heat ½ cup heavy whipping cream over medium heat to a simmer on the stove, just until bubbles begin to form.
• Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate, making sure it covers all of the chocolate. 
• Set aside undisturbed for 3 minutes to allow the chocolate to begin to melt.
• Then begin stirring the mixture in small circles in the center of the bowl.
• As the chocolate and cream start to darken and come together you can begin to make your circle bigger.
• Continue stirring until the cream and chocolate come together then widen the circle again and continue until the entire bowl of cream comes together.
• Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
• Then quit stirring as soon as the chocolate and cream come together to create a silky smooth ganache.
• If you overmix the ganache it can become grainy.
• Cover the bowl of ganache with a tight-fitting lid or press a piece of plastic wrap onto the top surface of the ganache and set it aside at room temperature until it thickens to a frosting-like texture. 

Add chocolate ganache filling.

• Either fill a pastry bag with the chocolate ganache and pipe it onto a cookie or simply spread it on using a knife or spatula.
• Gently press another peanut butter cookie on top.

You'll get a nice even amount of filling if you use a pastry bag. If you use a star-shaped tip you'll have some ridgelines in the filling too which looks nice.

You can pipe or spread jam, jelly, preserves, Nutella, peanut butter, or chocolate frosting over the cookies if you prefer these other fillings. 

Tips for making peanut butter sandwich cookies:

1. Use an ice cream scoop to portion the cookies so they are all the same size.
2. Flat the cookies using the tines of a fork making a criss-cross pattern on top of each cookie. 
3. Use brown sugar and white (granulated) sugar to make chewy cookies with crisp edges. 
4. Mix in your favorite creamy peanut butter. I use Jif! 
5. Bake on an aluminum cookie sheet topped with a piece of parchment paper to ensure even browning.
6. Fill with silky smooth chocolate ganache or jelly, Nutella, chocolate frosting, or peanut butter.
7. Don't add too much filling or it will ooze out the sides of the sandwich cookie.
8. Allow the filling time to firm up before eating the cookie.
9. Pipe the filling over the cookies to create a neat, even layer of filling. 
10. Store in an airtight container to keep the cookies soft and chewy. 

Printable Recipe

Continue to Content

Yield: 24 Sandwich Cookies

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Print

Soft and chewy peanut butter cookies sandwiched around decadently creamy chocolate ganache filling.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 42 minutes

Ingredients

• Peanut Butter Cookies
• 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup (240 grams) creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup (213 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 cup (201 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups (384 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons (7.2 grams) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5.69 grams) salt
• Chocolate Ganache
• 8 ounces(227 grams) semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
• ⅔ cup (120 ml or 120 grams) heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Peanut Butter Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees C).
2. Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
3. Then add the peanut butter and beat until creamy.
4. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until well combined.
5. Then stir in the eggs until combined.
6. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
7. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir just until combined.
   Scoop out 1-ounce portions of the cookie dough and arrange on a baking sheet with a few inches in between.
8. Use a fork to flatten the cookies using a criss-cross pattern.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set and the tops of the cookies no longer look wet.
10. Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then place them on a cooling rack until cooled completely.

Chocolate Ganache

1. Pour finely chopped chocolate into a shallow bowl.
2. Heat your cream over medium heat to a simmer on the stove, just until bubbles begin to form.
3. Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate.
4. Set aside undisturbed for 3 minutes to allow the chocolate to begin to melt.
5. Then begin stirring the mixture in small circles in the center of the bowl.
6. As the chocolate and cream start to come together you can begin to make your circle bigger, stirring until all the chocolate and cream emulsify.
7. Cover the bowl of ganache with a tight-fitting lid or press a piece of plastic wrap onto the top surface of the ganache and set it aside at room temperature until it thickens to a frosting-like texture.
8. Either fill a pastry bag with the chocolate ganache and pipe it onto half of the peanut butter cookies or simply spread it on using a knife or spatula.
9. Gently press another peanut butter cookie on top.

Notes

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 331Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 256mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 2gSugar: 22gProtein: 5g

HowToMakeEasyCookies.com offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you use to create this recipe.

More cookie recipes you might like:

• Author
• Recent Posts

Follow Me!

Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I share my fun food recipes at HungryHappenings.com, easy fudge recipes at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes to share with you here.

Follow Me!

Latest posts by Beth Klosterboer (see all)

• brownie mix cookies - June 9, 2023
• Sugar Cookie Cups - May 17, 2023
• Peanut Butter Cookie Cups - May 9, 2023