MAGIC IN THE MIDDLES Recipe

How to make it

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• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (I recommend the parchment)
• To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
• In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.
• To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners sugar until smooth.
• With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 30 one-inch balls.
• To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough (a lump about the size of a walnut), make an indentation in the center with your finger and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation. (I found it easier to flatten the lump into a disk)
• Bring the cookie dough up and over the filling, pressing the edges together cover the center;
• Roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
• Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick. (I didn't grease the glass, the sugar on the cookies prevented sticking)
• Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven and leave on the pans until the cookie "collapses". Then carefully place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• The most reliable way to make sure you have equal amounts of filling and chocolate dough is to use a cookie scoop. Our teaspoon scoop yields exactly 26 fillings when scooped with the dough level across the top. Our tablespoon scoop when filled level will yield exactly 26 chocolate blobs of dough to match. (My batch made 30 blobs of each)
• If you're doubling this recipe, add an extra egg to the chocolate dough.
• If you're making this dough ahead of time, add 2 tablespoons of milk to the chocolate dough. It tends to dry out as it sits, and the extra moisture will keep the outside dough from cracking as it bakes.