peanut butter & jam sandwich cookies

In a food processor, combine the flour, rolled oats, baking powder, and sea salt. Whiz it around on low until the rolled oats are broken down. Add brown sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut peanut spread and start the machine up again. Add chunks of cold Earth Balance butter gradually while you’re processing the cookie dough. Once it starts to come together and everything looks combined, you can remove it and transfer into a mixing bowl and lightly combine the last bit of dry crumbs with your hands, if necessary.

Handle the dough with your hands to form a ball and refrigerate the dough for about 10 minutes. If you’re doing this in advance, just be sure to let the dough sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before handling and rolling out.

Preheat your oven to 350°F and lay parchment paper onto your baking sheets. 

Roll out the cookie dough evenly onto a lightly floured surface and use a circular cookie cutter (or shape of your choice) to cut out cookies. This will make 48 cookies (approximately 2-inches wide) and 24 sandwiches. So on 24 cut out cookies, you want to create a hole through the middle. I did it by pushing a chopstick through the centre very gently while I held the cookie in the palm of my hand. The dough is easy to handle, but just be delicate! 

Bake cookies for 12 minutes and allow to cool completely before filling and assembling into sandwiches.

Make the filling using a hand mixer. Cream together the Earth Balance butter and peanut coconut spread. Gradually add in confectioners sugar and as it gets more stiff, start to add nondairy milk and continue beating until combined. You want a thick consistency like icing, and not too liquidy like that of yogurt. If you find your filling needs adjusting, you can add more confectioners sugar to thicken or nondairy milk to thin out.

Using a small icing spatula or a small spoon, take a small amount (just less than a tablespoon, but depends on the size of your cookies) of peanut butter filling and spread it onto a bottom cookie. Add a smaller amount of jam on top and gently press a top cookie on top. You want a little bit of oozing out the side and through the hole at the top, but not so that it’s dripping. These cookies are best served right away or refrigerate them until you want a sweet snack!