First off, I caved and joined twitter. So if you want to know what spices I am running low on, today is your lucky day. OK, now I’ll make with the cookies.
It seems that Peanut Butter Pillows won this battle, but the war still rages and I’ll post a few more of your recipe requests in the next few weeks. Right now, though, let’s get down to business. This recipe come straight from the ska checkered oven mitted hands of Terry Hope Romero.
Chocolate and peanut butter fans will totally stalk you once they get a bite of these classic chocolately cookies with a heart of sweet and salty peanut butter. We can’t deny impatience is rewarded here: these cookies when eaten warm just a few minutes out of the oven are dynamite. We use black cocoa powder because we happen to have it, but dutch processed or even regular cocoa powder would be A-OK.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows
makes 2 dozen cookies
Chocolate dough:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style
2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons soy creamer or non-dairy milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.
Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of soy creamer and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bakings sheet with parchment paper.
Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.
Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.
If I double the recipe, should I also double the filling?
Just made these!!! Had no problems-dough was soft enough to wrap around PB, and they were yummy both raw and baked. 🙂
I just made these and also had no problems! I had to make a dessert for a dinner we’re going to but didn’t feel like going to the store and these were the PERFECT solution!! I had planned on making 2 different cookies but I had no idea how large these were (about 1.5 inches when they were done baking), and they will definitely be enough to satisfy.
Some Tricks: I only had unsalted unsweetened peanut butter, so I added 1/8 teaspoon of salt to my filling. I made the peanut butter balls first and put them in the fridge, then I made my dough. Yes, the dough was very soft, but I found that it made it SO much easier to work with. I made them into discs in the palm of my hand, then placed the peanut butter ball inside and wrapped up the edges around the ball. Then I rolled them between my hands and any of the breaking was smoothed, as well as any gaps in the chocolate cover.
I can’t wait for everyone else to try these – they really do taste like stuffed brownies! SO good.
Also – as far as the peanut butter being oily, I always chill my peanut butter and then scrape the oil off of the top, so that may be why mine weren’t as oily. Might be a good thing for you to try if your peanut balls turned out greasy 🙂
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I just finished making these! Let me just say they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! A peanut butter chocolate brownie. Comfort in your mouth.
I went with some of Elizabeth’s suggestions and I must say it did make things much easier! I noticed that my chocolate dough did start to get a little crumbly toward the end but they turned out just fine. Mine definitely don’t look as pretty as the picture, but they are so delicious and so filling. You only need one and you’re in heaven!
Thanks so much for this recipe!
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These are so good, but very dangerous! I was already nauseous before I even got the cookies out of the oven, from having eaten the dough dregs left in the bowls. The cookies are very sweet, and very, very rich. Be careful! I’m going to feed them to some friends at work, and hopefully they’ll help me eat them. The cookies are way bigger than I was expecting, too! I’m hoping I recover from the sweetness/richness/fatiness shock soon, so that I can actually eat a cookie! These would be great for a potluck or bake sale, where you only eat ONE, and don’t eat an unknown amount of dough before baking…
I made these cookies last night. They were very easy to make with ingredients that are normally in the pantry. I was planning on making two batches of the chocolate dough since a few comments were made that there wasn’t enough, but I didn’t end up having enough ingredients so I only made the amount in the recipe. I didn’t have maple syrup or natural peanut butter, so I just substituted light corn syrup and JIF extra crunchy peanut butter. Also, I didn’t sift the dry ingredients since I don’t have a sifter. The dough tasted very good, so I knew that the baked cookies had to be delicious! Before I started rolling the peanut butter balls, I used an ice cream scoop to divide the dough, and found that it yielded 12 cookies. I divided each ice cream scoop of peanut butter dough into two, which yielded 24 cookies. I did the same with the chocolate dough so that the amount would be even. By doing this, there was just the right amount of dough and filling to yield 24 cookies, so I’m glad I didn’t double the chocolate dough! I tried a cookie a few minutes after cooling right out of the oven, but found they were too sweet. I kept the cookies in the refrigerator for a few hours in an air tight container, and they were so delicious! I highly recommend this recipe!! The only negative is that they are a little time consuming, but it is worth it!
I just made these for my husband who was craving an evening snack and they are wonderful! They taste delicious and were very easy to make. I always worry about altitude up here at 7500′ but it wasn’t an issue with this recipe.
I made these for the party and they rocked! Thank you for the recipe!
Beautiful! I’m going to try this GF.
I made these cookies this evening as a test run for the holidays. I found that there was not enough chocolate dough for 24 cookies, so next time I’ll double the recipe. They are delicious! Instead of using regular bleached sugar, I used organic cane sugar which is courser. I think this may have effected the consistency of the dough because when I rolled the dough over the peanut butter balls, it was crumbly. Any suggestions on what to do about this without using the white sugar?
They tasted good i made them with my friend 🙂
Awesome recipe! Nobody knew that they were vegan until I told them. 🙂
^Jennifer, I used turbinado sugar without any problems. (I don’t use white sugar in anything anymore.) Maybe try adding more syrup or milk to your cookie dough to hold it together? As for the amount of dough, I had enough to cover the peanut butter balls and they turned out pretty much like the photo. But I’m a mad chocoholic, so I think I will double the chocolate recipe next time as well. 🙂
I made these cookies on thanksgiving for 3 different houses. They were a BIG hit. So easy I made two batches. It is more tedious to divide the chocolate dough and peanut butter dough into 24 balls each, but do it-it is worth it for consistancy. Sooooo yummy I will make them again.
I can tell by how many comments I had to scroll through to get to the bottom that everyone is thinking the same thing I am.
O…M…G!! These are soooooo freaking good!! Just made them tonight and I could hardly wait for them to cool down! Thanks Isa, for posting another amazing recipe!! 🙂
I made them tonight too! I am participating in a cookie exchange this week, and I am so so so excited to share them! Also, I am a student, and I have a speech therapy client who likes peanut butter balls, so I set aside a few cookies for him 🙂
My chocolate dough was very oily, but turned out fine after baking, and I had to add a little more sugar to the pb mixture. I think these are going to become a staple in my repertoire!
awesome! just make sure its vegan confectioners sugar, most white sugar is processed with charred animal bones.
‘THESE ARE AWESOME!’
And yes I did just shout that out loud from the window.
What if I don’t have any non-dairy milk?? I live in the middle of the sticks & the closest store to me does not have non-dairy milk. I shouldn’t be surprised because the town the store is in only have 250 people in it, but I can’t drive and hour & a half, just for non-dairy milk. What can I use instead?
A magic cookie recipe! These were so easy to make, and turned out so fantastic; the perfect mix of sometimes crunchy sometimes soft and chewy cookie. My only refinement was that I divided both dough and filling ’til I had 24 of each, then it was just like an assembly line, super-speedy. Will definitely make again, and would make for a gift.