Peanut Butter Surprise

alligirl's Note:

I'm posting the recipes from 'The Dream Team' gathered by The Virginian-Pilot and submitted for judging in this year's state fair. They were printed in the 10/14/09 edition of the newspaper. These cookies won 1st place at the 2009 Virginia State Fair. They were submitted by Deana Hubbell of Virginia Beach. *NOTE - If you have time to partially freeze the peanut butter balls, before covering in dough, they will probably be a bit easier to work with...freezing time is NOT included in prep time.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 18

Yield: 18.0 cookies

Dough

• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup margarine , softened (may use butter)
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• granulated sugar , for dipping

Filling

• ¾ cup peanut butter
• ¾ cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar, margarine and peanut butter until light and fluffy.
4. Add vanilla and egg and beat well; stir into flour mixture until blended.
5. In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients and blend well.
6. Roll into 1-inch balls.
7. For each cookie, with floured hands shape about 1 tablespoon of dough around each peanut butter ball, covering completely.
8. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Flatten with bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar.
10. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until set and slightly cracked.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

I really, really enjoyed making these little gems, & although I did follow the recipe on down, I did use an extra chunky peanut butter! Also took your introductory tip & chilled the PB balls in the freezer before working with the dough, & that, I'm sure, was what made the whole process so easy! Absolutely great for us PB fans! Thanks for sharing the recipe! [Made & reviewed as a THANK YOU for tagging in PRMR during the recent Tic-Tac-Toe event]

[Lalaloula]

Wow, these are some tasyt morsels! I really enjoyed the combination of pb and cocoa. So yummy! I changed these up a bit, because I wanted to make them a bit healthier so I could eat more of them. lol
So I reduced the sugar in the dough by half, used all whole wheat flour and a tad less butter. In the filling I left out the powdered sugar and it worked out perfectly. After freezing the pb balls fo a little while they could be handled easily.
Thank you so much for sharing this treat with us, Alli!
Made and reviewed for Everyday Is A Holiday Tag Game November 2011.