Peanut butter-filled chocolate cookies

Yep. Yum.

I made these for Karly's housewarming party tonight. They're kind of a lot of work, especially compared to the drop cookies I normally make, but they're worth it for a special occasion.

Peanut butter-filled chocolate cookies
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies

Makes 32 cookies. But 30 fit perfectly onto two half sheet pans, so you'll eat two raw ones. Beware of salmonella!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used Maranatha, creamy with salt)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

Cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until light. You'll actually see the color lighten as more air is incorporated. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl and then mix that into the butter-sugar mixture. The dough will be really stiff, so finish with a wooden spoon if your hand mixer can't handle it.

Mix together the powdered sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter. It's not a big deal if you get proportion of sugar to peanut butter exactly right; I had to add more peanut butter to get it to combine.

Preheat oven to 350°. Divide the cookie dough into 32 balls, about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Do the same with the peanut butter mixture, about 3/4 inches in diameter. Flatten a dough ball in the palm of your hand, place a peanut butter ball on top, and fold the cookie dough over the peanut butter to enclose. Roll the mixture into a ball, and set on a non-greased cookie sheet. Parchment paper isn't necessary, as these release easily. Do the same with the rest of the dough. Flatten each ball by pressing on it with a drinking glass dipped in sugar (press the cookie first to get the sugar to stick to the glass).

Bake for eight minutes, rotating the tray half way through. Leave on the cookie sheet for about a minute to set more, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!