Wednesday, October 17, 2012

a peanut butter and jam sandwich... cookie.

It's not a sandwich, it's a sandwich cookie. And it's vegan. And it passed the test of a garage full of hungry mechanics at my boyfriend's work (I told him not to talk about the vegan part).

This recipe makes a great, crisp-chewy peanut butter cookie, and you could stop right there and have a perfectly good dessert. But I think you should go the extra step and throw some jam in the centre. Use any kind of jam you like; a classic grape jelly, a tangy raspberry jam, or an apple butter. I like to make the little sandwiches about an hour before I serve them - the jam sinks into the cookie and makes it get soft and gooey. But a day later, and you'll have a soggy cookie mess (which is still delicious, but kind of falls apart as you eat it). 

Want another flavour of sandwich cookie? Try a gingered sugar cookie with apple butter I made a few months ago. Or, Martha Stewart's zucchini nut bread cookie sandwiches. It's a mouthful. Martha's also got this cute peanut butter and jelly cookie cake- they look like tiny sandwich triangles! Now I can't stop - what about this brownie cookie with salted caramel filling? So many cookie sandwiches, so little time.


peanut butter and jam sandwich cookies
Cookie part adapted from peanut ginger sesame cookies from the Veganomicon cookbook. Makes 24 sandwich cookies. 


2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegan shortening (or butter)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (or honey)
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy milk (or regular milk)
1 tsp vanilla

1-2 cups jam of your choice

Pre-heat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add peanut butter, brown rice syrup, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla and beat another 3 minutes. Stir in the flour. Keep stirring another 3 or 4 minutes. The dough will become hard to stir - keep going! Scoop out two inch balls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, leaving quite a bit of space between each. The cookies will spread and double in size. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a rack to cool.

When cookies are completely cool, and about an hour before you plan to eat/serve them, spread jam on one cookie and top with a second cookie. 

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