Friday, May 14, 2010

Eureka & Peanut Butter-Nutella Cookie Sandwiches
















Ever since I was a little girl, I've had an aversion to peanut butter. Really. While other kids had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches packed away for lunch, nestled under my kool-aid filled thermos in my Get-Along Gang lunch box was a soggy tuna fish sandwich. I would have sooner eaten spinach than P, B & J, but that wouldn't have been hard to do, I loved spinach!
Peanut butter-- I'm still not all that jazzed over the stuff. So then, you may be wondering why I think the marriage of peanut butter, and my newfound discovery of Nutella®, make for the dreamiest cookie I've ever eaten. Ever, in life, EVER! That's an easy answer: Peanut butter cookies are a totally different animal than peanut butter in a jar. Well, different-in-that, while the former and latter are of the same species, they're a totally different animal. Sort of like how Lions and Kittens are both cats, but you wouldn't want to dangle a ball of yarn in front of a lion and call 'Here Kitty, Kitty.' Unless, of course, you were fulfilling #99 on your bucket list and #100 was to die doing something really stupid.

P.S. Don't do that!

P.P.S. Did you know the Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread, is put out by Ferrero? Of the Ferrero Rocher family. Yes! I just found out myself. Those delicious chocolates I've enjoyed for years, even before they were popular in America and you could only get them in specialty stores: One-in-the-same.
If you're familiar with the chocolates and have never tried Nutella, the creamy chocolate filling that envelopes the hazelnut IS Nutella.

Edification, it's a glorious thing! And so are these cookies.


Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe courtesy and Adapted from SimplyRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used extra crunchy)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In medium bowl, mix butter until smooth and creamy, 2 minutes. To the butter, add both the white and brown sugar, mix for another 2 minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg until incorporated.
In separate small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Use a fork to combine. Add combined dry ingredients to creamed butter-sugar mixture and, with hand mixture on low speed or a fork, mix until just completely incorporated.

Form dough into mound or log shape and place in plastic wrap. Cover completely and refrigerate for no less than 3 hours.

Once your dough has firmed and you're ready to make cookies...

Set your oven to 375°F and allow to Preheat. Cut enough dough to form into 1& 1/4 inch-sized balls (for each cookie). Using an ungreased cookie sheet, place each piece of formed dough about 3 inches apart. Use a fork to flatten cookie and create crisscross pattern. Pressing fork down once lengthwise and once crosswise.
Bake until lightly browned, between 9 and 10 minutes. Allow to sit on cookie sheet for 1 minute before transferring and allowing to cool completely on cooling rack.

Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes, if you like chewier cookies.

To Make Sandwiches: Wait until the cookies have cooled completely. Spread the bottom side of one cookie with a thin layer of Nutella and top with the bottom half of another cookie. You want the tops of the cookies visible.

Makes about 24 cookies. This dough freezes very well.




























9 comments:

  1. I LOVE Nutella. I practically lived on crepes avec nutella in Paris. I love your discovery re: Ferraro and the Ferraro Roche candies. I don't think I knew that!! COOL. Interesting to learn you don't like PB and was the kid eating spinach. crazy!

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  2. I'm making these cookies, they look amazing!!!! So I found your blog through Daisy's and I too never liked peanut butter growing up and only recently found Nutella! But yes I will cook with Peanut Butter just not eat it straight out of a jar. : )

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  3. Hi Ladies,

    Daisy, I find it odd that as much as I've heard people raving about Nutella, like Giada de Laurentiis on The Food Network, no one ever mentioned that Nutella and Rocher chocolates were the same thing.
    My guy says that Nutella is the equivalent of Peanut butter in France.
    I imagine I'll be eating a lot of it this summer in Paris. =)

    Hi Lizzy, thanks so much for stopping by.
    I loved these cookies. J'adore! I'm so glad I still have some dough in the refrigerator so I can make more. Please let me know how you like them when you do make them.
    I know, right? Even the smell of peanut butter, I do not like. That's so weird!

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  4. These cookies sound great! I love anything with Nutella.

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  5. The look absolutely delicious. I've never tried them with Nutella but will have to now. There's nothing like extra crunchy PB!

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  6. WOW! This is like the best use ever of Nutella! Wow, I'm glad I have a little more left in my kitchen! :)

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  7. oh.my.god. i have no words. chocolate and pb heaven right there. each time i read your blog i write down another recipe to try! you are really filling up my list! haha.

    "here kitty kitty" made me giggle this am! thanks :)

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  8. Hi Ree! Just found your comment on my "Smorkin Labbit" post. (A bit late, I apologize.) I think the K stands for Kozik, the guy who designed the "labbit". Yes he does grow on you! Thanks for stopping by - I like your blog - can't believe you're growing strawberries from what - shoots, seeds?! And that lime ricotta cake with blackberry sauce YOWZA! I will have to be back! Happy Cooking!

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