Ah, holiday baking.  The delicious smells, the smiles as the kids decorate cookies, the powdered sugar smeared on your face and some unnamed dried syrup on your shirt that you can’t identify and the mountains of dirty dishes from eleven hours of baking that will sit there for two whole days because if you keep your flour covered butt in this kitchen ONE MORE SECOND, the kids will think you are a gingerbread man and begin to frost you. But it’s worth it…because is there anything better than a holiday cookie?  How about a warm holiday cookie from the oven?  How about a warm holiday cookie from the oven with peanut butter inside?  BOOYAH! Didn’t see THAT one comin’, didja? Oh, you did?  Ok, well I guess I put it in the title, but I digress. My youngest didn’t see it coming, the same kid who has been known to smuggle a peanut butter jar and a spoon into her bedroom, and she thought these were nirvana.  So will you.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. In another mixing bowl, beat together butter, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the dry ingredients as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining dry ingredients by hand with a wooden spoon. I have a powerful Kitchen-Aid mega mixer which could mix cement so I used the mixer the entire time. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter.

For peanut butter filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls. On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.

Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake ‘em in for 8-10 minutes or until they’re just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. They will be slightly soft so don’t overbake ‘em unless you want to play ice hockey out front with them.

You can pretty these up with a little drizzle of chocolate, but I had to get my flour covered butt out of the kitchen.  They’re just as good without.