These sandwich cookies feel right for this time of year. Two sweet, soft, oatmeal laced, peanut butter cookies sandwiching a rich, dark chocolate ganache makes for a wonderful fall treat.

Here in Colorado the season is changing quickly. Temperatures are dropping. Leaves, only yesterday a vibrant green, today are shades of red and orange. They’re slowly beginning to congregate in brown and amber clumps on my lawn, and I keep glancing at my lonely rake, reminding it that its time has almost come. About now I’m tempted to break out my fall decor, drink hot cider, and eat these delicious cookies.

The original idea of this recipe comes from a delicious peanut butter sandwich cookie from the Dahlia Bakery in Seattle. Their cookies sandwich a lovely peanut butter filling. And while I adore that version, I can’t ever say no to chocolate ganache, especially when paired with peanut butter. The bonus is that chocolate ganache is only two ingredients and just about the easiest filling I can imagine making. So voila! An easier and super satisfyingly delicious sandwich cookie is born!

I do have a few tips for success. The refrigerator is your friend in this recipe. Be sure to chill your shaped cookie dough for at least 2 hours before baking to get the best looking and tasting version of this treat. Also chill the ganache for at least 30 minutes. If it’s too warm, it will just melt off your cookies instead of holding its shape and beautifully binding them together.

Secondly, go for a 1 ounce ice cream or cookie scoop for portioning uniform balls of dough. Because you’re making sandwich cookies, equally sized dough balls are critical. Besides, these little scoopers are widely available, inexpensive, and I guarantee you’ll find them useful in the future. I use mine all the time for shaping cookie dough, making cute little butter or cream cheese balls, or portioning little scoops of ice cream for my kids. In this recipe, the dough is quite sticky right after mixing, so a scooper with an eject button is super helpful.

Finally, I am a big fan of shaping the just baked cookies with a circle cookie cutter. When the cookies are straight from the oven and still hot, use a circle cookie cutter that is just slightly larger than the cookie to swivel the cookie around in a gentle circle inside the cutter. The warm dough will smoosh together to form a beautiful and much more uniform circle. It might sound tedious, but it takes literally seconds and makes a big difference in the visual appeal of these little babies.

Oaty Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich Cookies - Makes about 24 sandwiches

Equipment:

• 1 ounce cookie dough or ice cream scoop

• Circle cookie cutter, about 3 in. diameter (optional)

• Stand mixer

Oaty Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 2/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 cup + 2 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2/3 cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

• 300g semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:

1. Make the cookie dough. Combine the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to evenly distribute the ingredients. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, and the sugars. Cream them together using the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix on medium again until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Once the eggs are mixed, add the vanilla extract and mix again until incorporated.

3. Pour half the flour mixture into the stand mixer, and mix on medium until combined. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture, and mix again until just incorporated.

4. Use a 1 ounce ice cream scoop to evenly portion out 48 balls of cookie dough. Place them on a tray (they can be close together), and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

5. Once the cookies have chilled, preheat the oven to 375ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

6. Evenly space 8 cookies on the prepared baking sheet (do not try to squeeze any more per sheet as they will spread), and bake for 10-11 minutes or until golden around the edges and flattened.

7. Remove the pan from the oven and give the pan a nice slam on the counter or stovetop. This will cause the center of the cookies to fall for a perfect, level, and tender center. Then immediately use a circle cookie cutter to gently swirl and shape each cookie into a more uniform circle (optional). Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.

8. Continue baking through all the dough. While the cookies are baking, make the ganache. Place the chocolate chips in a medium, heat proof mixing bowl. Heat the cream to just boiling in the microwave. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Wait for 5 minutes, then stir the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is an even, smooth consistency. If needed heat the ganache for 15 seconds at a time in the microwave to melt any chocolate that hasn’t melted yet. Do not over heat. Once you have a beautiful, smooth, and shiny ganache, chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up enough for sandwiching between the cookies

9. Make the sandwiches. Take two completely cooled cookies of the same size, and spread a thick layer of ganache on the bottom of one cookie. Place the second cookie’s bottom on top of the ganache, and gently press until the ganache just peeks out the sides of the sandwich. Continue sandwiching until all the cookies are paired and filled. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Recipe adapted from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook