Recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies Sandwiched with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES SANDWICHED WITH GANACHE

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups minus 1 tablespoon sugar, plus additional sugar for sprinkling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
FOR THE GANACHE:
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 pint heavy (whipping) cream

Place oven racks near middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using electric mixer, cream together peanut butter and butter. Add 1 1/2 cups minus 1 tablespoon sugar and cream 20 seconds on medium speed. Scrape bowl and mix 30 seconds more. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture all at once. Mix until blended. Stir in peanuts.

For each cookie, scoop about 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets; there should be 8 cookies per sheet. You will need 3 sheets. On each cookie, press down lightly with large fork in 2 directions to make cross, flattening dough slightly. Sprinkle each with about 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

Bake 7-9 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets. Cookies will be very soft, but as they cool they will firm up somewhat, though they will still be soft. Remove cookies from sheets when cool and fill with ganache.

Spread ganache evenly over bottom side of 12 cookies. Top with remaining 12 cookies.

TO MAKE THE GANACHE:
Break 1 pound bittersweet chocolate into small pieces; process in food processor fitted with metal blade until finely ground. Heat 1 pint heavy whipping cream to boiling point on medium-high heat. With motor running, pour cream into feed tube of processor; process until chocolate is smooth and melted. Place in bowl and cool. Refrigerate only long enough to thicken to spreadable consistency, so it will form thick layer between 2 cookies. It can be reheated, if necessary, by placing bowl in warm water and stirring until smooth.

Makes 12 cookie sandwiches
Source: Cooking for Comfort by Marian Burros