Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Summary
Prep time	45 min
Cook time	8-10 min @ 375°
Source	Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman (pg 217-218)
Yield / serves	~2 dozen
Rating	Delicious

Ingredients

• 2/3 c creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 c confectioners sugar
• two pinches of flaky sea salt

• 1/2 c unsalted butter (at room temperature for a mixer; cold is fine for a food processor)
• 1/2 c granulated sugar, plus more to coat cookies
• 1/2 c packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 c creamy peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 2/3 c Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 1/3 c all-purpose flour

Preparation

Make the filling:

Line a small tray or plate with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt with a fork; it's a little messy, but it will come together. Once it's evenly mixed, use a teaspoon measure to scoop heaped teaspoons of filling into little balls. Spread them out on the prepared tray. Once you've used all the filling, put the tray in the freezer, and leave it there while you make the cookie dough.

To make the cookie dough with a hand or stand mixer:

Beat the softened butter with the sugars and peanut butter until they're creamed together. Add the egg, vanilla, and salt, and beat until everything is combined. Sift in the cocoa and baking powder, beat to combine everything, add the flour, and mix until the flour disappears.

To make the cookie dough in a food processor:

Pulse the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and sugars in the food processor until mixed. Cut the cold butter (softened works fine here, too) into chunks, and add it to the bowl. Run the machine until everything is fully blended. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla, and run the machine until the mixture is blended, scraping the sides down as needed, and then keep running until the dough balls together.

Assemble the cookies:

Place 1-2 tablespoons of additional granulated sugar in a small bowl. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a scoop of cookie dough that's just shy of 2 tablespoons (a #40 scoop holds 1 3/4 tablespoons and is perfect for this), and place it in the palm of your hand. Flatten it with your fingers. Take a ball of peanut-butter filling from the freezer, place it in the center of the dough, wrap the chocolate dough around it, and roll it in your palms until it's smooth. Roll it in the granulated sugar to coat, place it on your prepared baking sheet, and gently flatten the cookie, just slightly, with your fingers. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. This is going to seem like very little time, and the cookies are definitely going to look underbaked, but remember that we are just baking a thin outer shell of a cookie (the center doesn't need to be baked), and this does not take long. Let the cookies rest and set up on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack to cool to room temperature.