feet in motion: Girl Scout Tagalong Recipe

*this recipe was from Baking Bites and I finally got around to making them!

First, grab a cute baking partner.

Or two. I also made Alex wear this apron, but just for the picture. Once he read the “Girls rule, boys drool” embroidery he was not too happy. hahahah

Gather ingredients for cookie base:

1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk.

The dough should come together into a soft ball.
Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.
Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now you’ll need the ingredients for the filling:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular)
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla.

When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft.

Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.

Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.

Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl. This can be done in a microwave (with frequent stirring) or on a double boiler, but the bowl of melted chocolate should ultimately be placed above a pan of hot, but not boiling, water to keep it fluid while you work.

Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.