Homemade Peanut Butter Oreos

Last week, a few friends from school and I were talking about desserts. One friend, Steve, told me about his love for peanut butter everything, and later in the conversation, I learned Steve's birthday was a week away. So, what's a friend to do but bake something peanut buttery and delicious?


I've been wanting to make these homemade oreos from Smitten Kitchen and felt like this was the perfect reason. Chocolate and peanut butter are a classic combination and work so well for these cookies (I also tried to make blonde/golden oreos, however that recipe still needs to be perfected).

To make the peanut butter filling, I used one of my favorite products, PB2. If you haven't heard of PB2 (or have seen it but you're not quite sure what it is), let me tell you about it. PB2 is powdered peanut butter which can be either mixed with water to form a spreadable peanut butter or used as a powder. PB2 is formed by slow roasting peanuts, then pressing them to remove "85% of the fat and oil." And although PB2 is healthier than peanut butter, it still has all the flavor!


If you've gotten down to the ingredient list, I'm sure you noticed one of the ingredients is shortening. I know, I know, it's absolutely not healthy. I don't like shortening any more than you, but it gives the frosting a thickness you just can't achieve with butter. But look at it this way, these cookies are still better than store-bought oreos!

Homemade Peanut Butter Oreos

Yield: 12 sandwich cookies | Prep time: 10 minutes | Total time: 25

Ingredients:

Chocolate cookies:

• 1 1/4 cups flour

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup sugar

• 9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room-temperature

• 1 large egg

Filling:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room-temperature

• 1/4 cup shortening

• 1/4 cup PB2

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar