Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudgies

 I have officially finished my second year of teaching! Those of you who don't know me have no idea how exciting that really is. This year was a tough one for me...I'm not going to go into details because I don't want to relive it, but the important thing is cookies! On my last official duty day at my school, I took about 6 dozen cookies for the staff as a sort of thank you for everything they have done for me. I'm very thankful to each and everyone of them and I don't know how to show appreciation better than cooking or baking. I had a tough time choosing cookies, but this specific cookie was requested by my co-teacher.

These cookies are amazing if you are looking for something with chocolate, peanut butter, and a fudge texture. If you make them really well, you won't even see the peanut butter; it's like a little surprise when you bite in. I don't remember when I found them but I'm glad I did. Jenny Flake over at Picky Palate knew what she was doing.

I recommended these cookies to a friend and she called me the next day saying these cookies changed her life. She has decided that these cookies are a life-changing event and that everything in her life will now be B.C. (before the cookies) and A.C. (after the cookies). She also informed me how messy these cookies were to make :) If you don't mind a little mess, please make these cookies!

Time: 30ish minutes
Ingredients
1 cup peanutbutter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

2 sticks softened butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 TBS vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper...or grease it lightly, your choice.

First we will prepare the peanut butter filling. Mix up the peanut butter and sugar and then mix in the eggs. Combine until smooth and set it aside.

Now for the chocolate dough. Cream the butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla in a large mixing bowl with a stand mixer or hand beater. Next, slowly mix in flour, baking soda, and salt. Finally add in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips until it is just combined. I recommend using a wooden spoon or spatula to stir and nothing plastic...it is pretty dense. Once you have mixed it place it in the fridge for a little bit. You don't have to do this, but I think it helps.

Now comes the fun messy part of assembling the cookies. There are a couple different ways you could assemble them. The original poster used three balls of dough and then squished them all together. I used one big disc of dough and a smaller. I will detail how I did it. Use a large cookie scoop or spoon to scoop a chunk of chocolate dough into your hand. (You might want to spray your hands with cooking spray first, but I didn't.) Flatten the dough in your hand and then use a small scoop or spoon to dish up some peanut butter dough into the middle of your flattened chocolate dough.

Now roll it up into a ball, hiding the peanut butter dough inside the chocolate. It's more fun that way.

 

 Place your chocolatey goodness on your prepared pans about and inch apart and squish them down until they are about 1/4" thick.

I forgot to squish them down before I snapped a picture...

Put your pan in the oven and let them bake for about 16 minutes or until they are set. When they are ready, let them set on the sheet for about 5 minutes and then take them off.

 These are fantastic warm, but are also very tasty cool. These last for quite a few days if stored in tupperware and are fantastic as the outside of ice cream cookie sandwiches! Enjoy!

 Original source: http://picky-palate.com/2011/06/06/chocolate-fudge-peanut-butter-cookie-stuffed-cookies/