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Recipe Detail Page
Peanut Butter & Pretzel Sandwich Cookies
Early Summer 2022
These decadent cookies check off all the boxes: crispy edges, chewy centres and big peanut flavour. The brown-butter filling is both sweet and savoury, and pretzels give the cookies a satisfying crunch. For the best crackle effect, use Jif peanut butter.
Makes 24 to 26 sandwich cookies
BROWN BUTTER FILLING
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (250 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups (425 mL) icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp (2 mL) Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1/4 tsp (1 mL) fine sea salt
COOKIES
1 2/3 cups (410 mL) all-purpose flour (measured using the spoon and sweep method)
1 1/4 tsp (6 mL) Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) fine sea salt
3/4 tsp (4 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder
3/4 cup (175 mL) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) creamy peanut butter (not natural), preferably Jif
2/3 cup (150 mL) light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup (150 mL) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) pure vanilla extract
24 to 26 small pretzels
1/2 cup (125 mL) roasted, salted peanuts, chopped, or 12 pretzels, chopped, for rolling
1. For the filling, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir often, until butter is fragrant and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Scrape butter and browned bits into a shallow heatproof bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes, then refrigerate until almost firm, about 40 minutes.
2. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat chilled browned butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth and light. Gradually beat in icing sugar and salt until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. (Filling will keep, covered and refrigerated, up to 5 days. Soften before using.)
3. For the cookies, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line four baking sheets with parchment paper. (If you don’t have four sheets, you can reuse trays as they come out of the oven.)
4. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
5. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and peanut butter in a large bowl until creamy, scraping bottom of bowl, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in brown sugar and granulated sugar until slightly pale and thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in egg, then yolk and vanilla, scraping bottom and sides of bowl with each addition, until just combined. Gradually add flour mixture on lowest speed, until just combined. Refrigerate dough for 15 to 20 minutes if too soft to handle.
6. Working one tray at a time, scoop heaping 1 tbsp (15 mL) dough and gently roll into a ball. Roll or swirl in bowl of granulated sugar to coat. Place 2 inches (5 cm) apart on prepared sheets— about three rows of four. Gently press a pretzel into the top of each cookie to flatten lightly.
7. Bake cookies until tops crackle and cookies are golden around edges, 11 to 12 minutes. (Prepare next round while cookies are baking.) When you remove each cookie sheet from the oven, tap sheet on counter a few times to flatten cookies slightly and encourage more crackling. Let cool on baking sheet 3 minutes before transferring to rack to cool completely. Make one more tray with pretzels then two trays without pretzels for the sandwich bottoms.
8. To assemble, fill flat side of each plain cookie with heaping 1 tbsp (15 mL) of brown butter filling then sandwich with pretzel-topped cookie on top. Dip one side of filling in chopped peanuts or pretzels.
Makes 24 to 26 sandwich cookies
