Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Every year for Christmas, my mom and I bake a ton of cookies to give as gifts. We arrange a few different kinds of treats on a festive plate and wrap with cellofane & pretty ribbon - perfect to give to friends, coworkers, our hair salon, or as hostess gifts. This year we made pumpkin roll, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, sugar cookies, a twist on these oatmeal cookies with pecans & cranberries, and my personal favorite: chocolate and peanut butter cookies. They are pretty much a Reese's (my all-time fave candy!) in cookie form - truly to-die-for! Although they are fairly easy to bake, grab a helper because there are a lot of steps to make these delicious cookies! We usually double the recipe but below is the single version which yields 32 cookies.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 creamy peanut butter

Directions

{1}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.

{2}

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugars; beat until combined. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl part way to make sure all ingredients are fully combined. Shape into 32 (1 1/4-inch) balls; set aside.

{3}

For the peanut butter filling, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar and the 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.

{4}

For each cookie, slightly flatten a chocolate ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape chocolate ball completely around the filling and roll into a ball. Place each cookie 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in additional granulated sugar.

{5}

Bake for about 8 minutes or just until set and slightly cracked. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!