Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies

Are you tired of chocolate peanut butter recipes yet?  I sure hope not, because they are not going anywhere.  We (and especially TheBetterHalf) are just way too obsessed with that flavor combo! We have Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream in our freezer pretty much all the time.  It is a dangerous habit.

I’ve had my eye on this cookie recipe for a long time now.  I’ve seen them called Magic in the Middles, Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies, Buckeye Cookies – whatever they are called, a chocolate cookie with peanut putter filling is pretty much pure heaven!  First you make a basic chocolate cookie dough. Form it into balls and set it aside while you make the filling.  Mix together peanut butter and powdered sugar, and form that into little balls as well.  That stuff can be sticky!  I used slightly damp hands when I was making the filling balls, and that worked well for me.  Then you flatten out your cookie dough ball, place a peanut butter ball inside, shape the dough around the filling, and voila! I can see why people call them magic in the middles – you think it is just a simple chocolate cookie, but then you bite into it and there is sweet, peanut butter deliciousness!  Magic some might say.  

From this picture, you wouldn’t even know there was peanut butter inside!

PB close-up

Definitely serve these with a glass of milk!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients
For Cookie:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
For Filling:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
For Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cookie:
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and beat well. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Form the dough into 32 balls, about 1 1/4 inches in diameter

Filling:
Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Shape the mixture into 32 3/4 inch balls.

To assemble the cookies, take a chocolate dough ball and slightly flatten it. Top with a peanut butter ball and shape the dough over the peanut butter, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a neat ball.

Topping:
Place the 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a bowl. Gently roll the cookie dough balls in the sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on cookies sheets, and lightly flatten them with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 8 minutes or until they are just set and the surface is slightly cracked. Let them cool on the sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.