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Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

My daughter has made these a few times now so I felt it was time to blog them on her behalf. They are so tasty and vegan to boot!

These are chocolaty cookies wrapped around a delicious peanut butter filling. What could be tastier? They are a teeny bit more time consuming then your average cookie but they are definitely worth it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

For the Chocolate Dough:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (my daughter used agave syrup)
• 3 tbs pure vanilla etract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa owder
• 2 tbs black unsweetened cocoa powder (my daughter skipped this)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling:

• 1/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 to 3 tbs soy creamer or nondairy milk
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a large mixing bowl, comibie oil, sugar, maple syrup, nondairy milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder ,black cocoa powder if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough. 
2. Make the peanut butter filling: in another mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together peanut butter, powdered sugar, 2 tbs of the soy creamer, and vanilla to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is dry and crumbly (natural peanut butters have varying moisture contents), stir in the remaining tablespoon of nondairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little exgtra powdered sugar.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Shape the Cookies:

Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough unto twenty-four balls (try dividing tough in half then each part in half again,and roll each portion into six balls). Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a thin disc, and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll into a smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining dough. If desired, gently flatten cookies slightly, but this is not necessary.

Place the dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes .Remove the sheet from the oven and let the cookies stand for 4 minutes before moving them to wire racks to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired, warm cookies in a microwave for 12 seconds before serving.