Oatmeal Pecan Sandwich Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

I have just found a new favourite cookie! Not that I really needed to. I mean sure the rotation of cookies being baked around here is getting a little bland but still, this is a frivolous snack we're talking about. Variety is really just the icing on the cake. Or in this case the icing sandwiched between two chewy oatmeal pecan cookies.


Adapted from Joy the Baker

1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup flour (I'd like to try this with at least half whole wheat next time)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Icing:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4* cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3-4 tablespoons milk

This made more icing than I needed for this amount of cookies. Next time I'll try to scale it back...or make a double batch of cookies to match. I will say the icing is pretty delicious and you could probably find other uses for it. I used up my extra in a sugar daddy and it was spectacular! Also next time I might try using maple butter as a simple tasty filling instead.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl (or with a mixer) cream butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat for a minute or so. In another bowl combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda, powder and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until well combined. Mix in pecans.
Place small (mine were about a tablespoon sized scoop) balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet about an 1 1/2" apart from each other.

Bake for about 10-13 minutes (Joy recommends them at 10 minutes for a chewier cookie and I liked them at 11 minutes). Let cool on pan for a minute then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

For icing, mix butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Add in icing sugar and combine well. Slowly mix in milk a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Add in vanilla and mix well.

Once cookies are completely cool, match them up in pairs of similar sizes. Place a dollop of icing on one cookie and place its pair on top.

*The recipe called for 1 cup of icing sugar but I found the icing to be way to sweet for my taste. I added more peanut butter to fix it, but next time I'll just use 3/4 cup of sugar.