Peanut Butter "Whoopie Pies"

I found a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies and decided to alter it into peanut butter whoopie pies. I did not add the spices like cinnamon and just changed the amount of pumpkin to natural smooth peanut butter.

This batter was much firmer than the peanut butter batter I had made before, so I had better hopes for these cookies. Without knowing how much they would spread, I used my cookie scoop to make the cookies and spread them out on the pan. After 7 minutes, the cookies did not spread at all, so I briefly took them from the oven and used a flat bottomed glass to flatten them out. They weren't puffing up at all like I had hoped. I am looking for soft, puffy cake-like cookies.

I was a bit disappointed, but only because my original goal was not met. These cookies taste pretty good on their own. I wanted to add a little something to them, so I made some cream cheese frosting with vanilla and honey to add as a filling. For some of the cookies, I also added mini chocolate chips to the center. When my husband and I tried these cookies last night, we were both very happy with them. The filling was still a bit soft, but I am assuming that it will set up nicely given the time.

I did not bring these cookies into work yet since I wasn't sure how many my husband would want at home. If there are some to share, I will have to include any comments I receive on my blog.

As for getting back to the whoopie pie dilemma...I think I will use a well rated recipe for regular chocolate ones, then add a peanut butter and honey filling. I am not quite ready to give up on the peanut butter whoopie pie with honey sweetened filling, but it may have to wait just a little bit longer before I can get it figured out the way I would like. The whole teaching myself thing will be a slow process, but hopefully I will learn a lot along the way.

The other advantage of teaching myself is that I can pick and choose exactly what I want to learn. As of this moment, I have no desire to make my own pasta. But notice that I said at this moment. Things can always change in the future. Right now I want to focus on wholesome food and the kinds of sweets that I like and see where that road takes me.


UPDATE: The filled cookies were stored in an airtight container overnight and last night we had another taste. The filling set up nicely and even made the cookies just a little bit softer. My husband and I are both soft cookie fans, so this was a great surprise! This recipe will definitely be added to my 'tried and true' folder on my computer to be used in the future!