Saturday, September 14, 2013

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosted Cookies


Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosted Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 1/4 cups cake flour  
1- 10 oz bag Reese's Peanut Butter chips 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven.
Cream together butter, sugars, salt, baking soda and powder.  Add vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
Add flour and peanut butter chips. Mix just until flour and chips are blended together.
Use a tablespoon to keep size uniform and roll into balls.  Bake for 6-8 minutes. (These cookies are so rich, 1 T of cookie dough is the perfect size!)

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter, soft-room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter 

1/4 t salt
cream or half and half to thin to proper consistency (2 T - 1/4 C)
Cream together room-temperature butter and powdered sugar. Add peanut butter and beat until smooth. Add cream a tablespoon at time, just until frosting is smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 C butter 
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa (or less if you like a lighter cocoa frosting)
1 tablespoon vanilla
cream or half and half to thin to proper consistency (2 T - 1/4 C)
Cream butter and 5 cups powdered sugar. Add cocoa and vanilla. Add cream a tablespoon at a time until frosting is smooth. If needed, add more powdered sugar.

After cookies are cooled, frost with peanut butter frosting. Then frost on top of the peanut butter frosting with the chocolate frosting. It is easier if the peanut butter frosting is thicker and you pipe on the chocolate.  You can still spread the chocolate, just takes a bit more time.


**Recipe adapted from abountifulkitchen.com.
**I usually bake the cookies the day before and freeze them.  They are easier to frost when frozen solid.  Also, I tend to think that they are tastier cold, so put them in the fridge until ready to serve.  I've made these a lot recently and more than one person has told me they dreamed about them... they're that good!