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These chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies are made with a creamy, thick vegan peanut butter frosting sandwiched between two soft chocolate cookies. The combination of rich chocolate and peanut butter flavours is a match made in heaven!
This recipe was originally published in October, 2020. It has been updated with new photos, detailed instructions, and step-by-step photos.
Peanut butter and chocolate were made for each other. I think that's something we can all agree on, right?
Whenever I'm craving this magical combo, I love to make peanut butter brownies or my super popular peanut butter cookies (with chocolate chips added in, of course).
But lately I've been obsessed with making sandwich cookies, so I can't get enough of these peanut butter sandwich cookies!
Why You'll Love These Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
- The ingredients are simple - you probably already have everything you need in your pantry!
- The peanut butter frosting can be made with natural or regular peanut butter.
- These chocolate peanut butter cookies have been tested with dairy ingredients and with dairy free ingredients and work both ways, so they're perfect whether you follow a dairy free diet or not!
Ingredients Needed
- Smooth Peanut Butter: I recommend using the regular Skippy or Kraft-type peanut butter. Natural peanut butter will work as well, but the cookies will be less sweet since there is no sugar added to natural peanut butter.
- Flour: this recipe works best with all purpose flour. If you need these cookies to be gluten free then you can use an equal amount of gluten free all purpose 1-1 baking flour.
- Butter: you can use regular butter or vegan butter if you need these cookies to be dairy free.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend using unsweetened cocoa powder.
Step by Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
Step 3: In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, combine butter and sugars, mixing until smooth.
Step 4: Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just combined (do not over-mix!).
Step 5: Mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
Step 6: Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to make 1.5 tablespoon sized balls and place them on the baking sheet. Gently press down using a fork or 2 fingers to flatten the cookies slightly.
Step 7: Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely while you make the vegan peanut butter frosting.
Step 8: In the bowl of a standing or electric mixer, whip together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla. Add powdered sugar, ¼ cup at a time and mix. Scrape the edges of the bowl between each addition. Add milk if the frosting seems too thick.
Step 9: Once the cookies have cooled completely, flip 12 of the cookies upside down and use a spoon or small spatula to scoop a heap of frosting on each cookie. Place one of the unfrosted cookies over top of each and gently push them together to even out the frosting in the sandwich.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Sandwich cookies are essentially a dressed-up version of cookies. To make sandwich cookies you take two cookies, spread some buttercream on one cookie, then top it with the other. Done. Looks impressive, but it's actually so easy.
Absolutely you can! The great thing about cookie sandwiches is that the options are endless. These chocolate cookies are soft, delicious, and taste amazing with basically any buttercream frosting flavour.
If you're in the mood for extra chocolate, you can replace the peanut butter frosting with my fudgy buttercream.
If you're feeling like something sweeter to balance out the richness of the soft chocolate cookie, I'd suggest this cookie dough buttercream!
Expert Tips
- I always recommend using a food scale to measure your flour! Or if you’re using a measuring cup, use the scoop and level method. Adding too much flour will lead to dry, crumbly cookies.
- Don't over-bake the cookies! Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges are set but the tops still look soft.
- Let the cookies cool completely before adding the buttercream to them - otherwise it'll melt off!
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Store the chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Store any extra frosting in the an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More Peanut Butter Recipes You'll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Soft Chocolate Cookies
- 1 cup vegan butter (or butter of choice)
- 1 egg
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Peanut Butter Frosting
- ¾ cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ cup butter (regular or dairy free)
- 2 - 2 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoon milk (regular or dairy free)
Instructions
Soft Chocolate Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, combine butter and sugar, mixing until smooth.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just combined (do not over-mix!).
- Mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to make 1.5 tablespoon sized balls and place them on the baking sheet. Gently press down using a fork or 2 fingers to flatten the cookies slightly.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely while you make the vegan peanut butter frosting.
Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting
- In the bowl of a standing or electric mixer, whip together the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, ¼ cup at a time and mix. Scrape the edges of the bowl between each addition. Add milk if the frosting seems too thick.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, flip 12 of the cookies upside down and use a spoon or small spatula to scoop a heap of frosting on each cookie.
- Place one of the unfrosted cookies over top of each and gently push them together to even out the frosting in the sandwich.
- Store any extra frosting in the an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
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Nikki
How much vanilla is supposed to be added to the frosting? I see it in the cookie ingredients but not the frosting.
Gabby
1/2 teaspoon!
Dani Bell
My husband isn't a hug sweets fan but he LOVED these. I'll be trying more of your recipes
Gabby
Hi Dani! I'm so thrilled to hear that you both enjoyed the cookies! Thanks so much for the review 🙂
Janna
These took me a little bit longer to make than the average cookie, but it was definitely worth the effort! The peanut butter frosting was so tasty and it was a perfect match for the chocolatey cookies.
Gabby
Thank you so much for trying them out Janna! I'm so happy you loved them and glad they were worth the extra effort to make the buttercream 🙂
Lorraine
I thought they were vegan ? But have egg in 😢
Gabby
They aren't vegan, no! You can try subbing the egg with a flax egg but I haven't tested it so I can't say exactly how they'll turn out