I really love the combination of peanut butter and honey, especially in sandwich form. But sometimes you don't want to eat a whole sandwich and a simple cookie would suffice - I've been wanting to make these cookies for a while now, but I was afraid I would be the only one eating them since the rest of my family does not share my enthusiasm for peanut butter. After staring at the recipe repeatedly for weeks, I decided to set my anxieties aside and make them anyway... and what a surprise, my family loved these cookies; I think they ate more of them than I did! After just one bite my sister claimed it was the best peanut butter cookie she'd ever eaten and my dad went back for seconds soon after his first.

The honey adds a touch of sweetness to the overall peanut butter taste and is more noticeable than I thought it would be, and the chopped nuts on the outside make for a fantastically crunchy exterior in contrast to the smooth intense peanut butter interior. It's a bit of a long process rolling all the different parts out, but it's interesting to see how it all comes together in the end. I believe my oven temperature may have been set a little too high though because the cookies came out darker and firmer than I was happy with, even though I cut the baking time down to ten minutes. I would keep an eye on these as they're baking because if you over-bake them they harden like rocks after a day or two of sitting in an airtight container. These are definitely cookies to devour the same day they're baked.

Double Delight Peanut Butter-Honey Cookies
from The Crepes of Wrath

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey

Coating
2/3 cup finely chopped honey roasted peanuts (or any mixture of nuts - I used salted walnuts, almond, peanuts, cashews, and hazelnuts)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey, until creamy (about 1-2 minutes).
3. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Gradually beat in flour until well combined. Place dough in freezer for 15 minutes, stir, and freeze for an additional 15 minutes (I just put mine in the freezer for as long as it took me to make the filling and coating).
4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Sift confectioners’ sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, and honey until well combined.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large sheet pan with cooking spray or line it.
6. Make the coating by stirring together nuts, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl, until well combined.
7. Remove bowl from freezer. Take each piece of dough, roll into a ball and then flatten with your hand, place a peanut butter ball in the center, and wrap dough around ball. Roll ball in your hands to shape better. Roll balls in nut mixture, to coat completely; place on prepared sheet pan. Coat the bottom of a glass with cooking spray and flatten cookies. Don’t flatten too much, though!
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-15 minutes, or until edges of cookies are golden brown. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.

Labels: cookies, honey, peanut butter