S’more Peanut Butter Cookies

My friends and I were talking the other day about peanut butter cookies and of course, I knew I needed to go home and make peanut butter cookies. I know that there are many, many recipes out there, but I wanted something different. I like peanut butter cookies because they are so homey, so I didn’t want to make anything too fancy. I did a search on FoodGawker and found a number of good looking recipes. I pinned a couple of potentials and ended up making this one.

This recipe starts with a basic soft peanut butter cookie, one that gives a lot of variations. I can’t wait to try some of the different variations! You make the cookies, bake them partially, top with half a marshmallow and bake a couple of minutes more. They look really fancy but they really didn’t take too long to put together. I had all the ingredients on hand except marshmallows. Luckily, the dough needs to be refrigerated at least 30 minutes so that was enough time for me to run to the store to get marshmallows!

I was a little nervous about just baking these a couple of minutes. The original recipe said bake them for 7 minutes, then 3 more after topping with the marshmallow. The cookies seemed so undone, so the other batches I baked 8 minutes then 3 more. They also looked a little undone, but better. In all honesty, once the cookies cooled they were fine. Nice and soft. The combination of peanut better, marshmallow and chocolate is super addicting, so it’s good that this recipe only makes about 2 dozen (I got 28 cookies total). They are supposed to keep fresh for several days, but they aren’t going to last more than two at my house!

S’more Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/4 cups flour

12-14 large marshmallows, cut in half

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Chocolate sprinkles, if desired

Make the dough: in a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy. Add the egg, peanut butter, and vanilla and stir to combine. In a small bowl combine the baking soda and flour. With the mixer running on low, add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape 1-1/2 tablespoons of dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8 minutes (the cookies won’t be done yet, don’t worry). Press half a marshmallow on top of the partially baked cookie. Bake for an additional 3 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Finish the cookies: combine the chocolate and vegetable shortening in a bowl and microwave for 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 second cooking time, until melted. Top the cookies with melted chocolate; use the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate over the marshmallows. If desired, sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction