Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

My favorite candy of all time is Reese's peanut butter cups. I get a Reese's Blizzard every time we go to Dairy Queen. There is no "branching out" for me. Cheesecake Factory has a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake that I get every time. I don't even care that it has enough calories to last me a week.

It runs in our family, too...sort of. Celeste's husband was convinced to find out the gender of their third baby (he wanted to keep it a surprise, something I feel is a bit like torture) when a friend baked him a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. It was just that good.

Oh, and they had a boy.

So when I went to the store to get school lunch supplies for the kids, I was bummed that there were no chocolate peanut butter cookies. For me, not for the kids. They got Chips Ahoy. So instead I grabbed a box of cake mix and decided that I would have to make my own, dang it!

Ever had cake mix cookies? They're a lot of fun, especially when you find a new flavor of cake mix, like strawberry or butter pecan. The possibilities really are endless, and they are so easy to make. Hardly any measuring and certainly less dishes to do!

I rolled the cake mix into balls about the size of a small ping pong ball. This allowed for same-size cookies, and they didn't flatten too much.

Be generous with the frosting, mostly because it's insanely delicious but also because the cookies are pretty thick and you don't want to lose the frosting in all the chocolatey-ness of the cookies.

See how the cookies are the same size? You could certainly make your cookies bigger or smaller, the key really is just making them the same size.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

by Girls in Aprons

Cookie mix:

1 package chocolate cake mix, any variety (I used devil's food cake)

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an egg beater or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix cake mix, egg, water, and oil together on medium speed until well blended. Roll by tablespoonfuls and place on a greased cookie sheet one inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Meanwhile, mix peanut butter and powdered sugar together with a whisk. Add milk one tablespoonful at a time until smooth but not thick, about the thickness of canned frosting.

Place a cookie upside down in one hand and apply a generous amount of peanut butter frosting to the bottom end. Top with another cookie and place on a plate. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

You can dust the cookies with more powdered sugar or roll the sides in crushed peanuts, too.