Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies are a no-bake confection that uses ready-made store-bought ingredients to create the most deliciously indulgent snack! Use your favourite cookie or cracker such as digestive, ritz, or one that pairs well with peanuts, peanut butter, and melted milk chocolate!

As Christmas approaches and I find myself near the end of my holiday-themed recipes, I thought now would be a great time to get another no-bake recipe out to you just in time for some last-minute holiday recipe ideas. These Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies are very easy to prepare and they are most certainly going to be quickly gobbled up by anyone who likes the combination of chocolate and peanut butter!

In the introduction, I made mention of the fact that you could use a variety of cookies – and you can! But, keep in mind that the diameter of the cookie will determine how many you can make with the amount of peanut butter and chocolate listed in the recipe card below. I used digestive cookies, which are quite large compared to a Ritz cracker, but you can choose any cracker you wish. Graham crackers are delicious with this recipe!

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So, welcome, Dear Reader, to my annual holiday-themed recipes. Traditionally, every year I share a series of recipes that you might already be familiar with. For example, I’ve previously shared 12 Holiday Trifles, 12 Holiday Bars & Squares, and even these 12 Edible Holiday Wreath recipes! Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

This year I’m doing it differently. Rather than sharing multiple back to back series, I’m sharing a new holiday-themed recipe almost every day from now until Christmas Eve. For those of you who have followed my annual Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas series, don’t worry, you will still get lots of new cookie recipes this year too. I will not, however, be publishing the cookies back to back in a 24-day series. This would have been my 8th year running the series and it becomes very exhausting. Also, we have a vacation booked in what would have been the middle of the series, so this year, I’m spreading the recipes out so that I’m not sharing the same type of recipe every day.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! And, just in case you’re curious, you can see previous annual posts for my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series here!

NO-BAKE RECIPES

I used to think that the term no-bake meant that a recipe was more of an assembly-type recipe. Something like a salad, for example. It sounds simple enough, right? Toss the lettuce and any other veggies you want into a bowl. Top it with cheese, croutons, avocado, hard-boiled egg, etc. Add some dressing and you’re all done! But, no-bake actually just means no baking. There still might be some stove-top cooking needed – or even a microwave, for that matter. To prepare these Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, you will need to use your microwave!

Some other no-bake-type holiday recipes you might enjoy are these Rudolph’s Red Nose Cookies. Hairy Moose Droppings are delicious and always quite the conversation starter! Just like these Caramel Peanut Slices were a favourite of my mom’s so were these Marshmallow Coconut Balls and so were these Christmas Crunch Cookies. You can find many more no-bake cookie recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen by using the search field at the top of this page.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Digestive Cookies
• Butter – Make sure your butter is softened and at room temperature.
• Peanut Butter – I’m using crunchy peanut butter, but you can use smooth.
• Chocolate Chips – I use chocolate chips a lot in my recipes, and I change up the type depending on how I feel.  Unless the recipe states otherwise, you can use milk, semi-sweet, or dark chips here. I used milk and semi-sweet here.
• Vegetable Oil
• Peanuts – You can use salted or unsalted. I think the salted peanuts add more flavour.
• Jimmies – These are elongated sprinkles.

HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

Set 12 digestive cookies upside down onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Top each cookie with a slightly heaping tablespoon of peanut butter. Try to position the peanut butter in a mound right in the center of the cookie. Top those cookies with another digestive cookie, this time the right side up! Gently press down onto the top cookie to evenly spread out the mound of peanut butter. This will create the cookie sandwich.

Next, melt the milk chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments at half power. Stir well between each increment until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Place one of the sandwich cookies into the melted chocolate to coat. Use a fork to turn the cookie over to coat the other side. Using the fork, lift the cookie out and tap the fork 10-12 times on the edge of the bowl to shake off the excess chocolate. Transfer the cookie back the the parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue until all cookies are coated in melted milk chocolate.

Next, melt the semi-sweet chocolate in the same manner. (You do not need vegetable oil for the semi-sweet chocolate.) Transfer the melted semi-sweet chocolate to a piping bag or a sandwich bag. Cut a small tip from one lower corner. Hold the bag over the cookies and drizzle each cookie with the desired amount of chocolate. Immediately top the cookies with the chocolate jimmies and chopped salted peanuts.

Set the baking sheet aside and allow the chocolate to cool and harden. Once the chocolate is firm, transfer the cookies to a food-safe container with a tight-fitting lid and store them at room temperature.

LET’S TALK PEANUT BUTTER!

Before you are tempted to send me an email or a comment knocking my choice of peanut butter that is not natural and organic, hear me out! This recipe will not work with natural peanut butter. I repeat, this recipe will not work with natural peanut butter. There, I said it. Now, if you go ahead and make this recipe using natural peanut butter and it comes out a big, wet mess, you cannot blame me.

John.e uses only natural peanut butter, but I do not. I do not like it at all. Yes, it’s healthier and better for me, but I’d rather not eat it at all if I have to choose the natural stuff. I grew up on Kraft or Jiffy peanut butter and it’s the only peanut butter I ever use.

For these sandwich cookies, you have the choice of smooth peanut butter or crunchy. But, you do not have a choice between all-natural and sugar-laden, mass-produced stuff. The sandwiches will not hold together properly. Mostly, it certainly will not taste right. If you are completely against using non-natural peanut butter, as harsh as it may sound, this recipe is most certainly not for you.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

Most no-bake confections are made without the need to freeze them for long periods of time, but they can be frozen. For this recipe, I have tested whether or not they can be frozen, and they certainly can! Once they are completely firm, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer-friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  You can freeze these for up to three months.

If you plan to give previously frozen sandwich cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!