Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Peanut butter & jelly sandwiched between two soft and chewy oatmeal cookies. A fun twist on a childhood classic! 

I didn't think it was possible to improve upon a peanut butter and jelly sandwich until I decided to use cookies instead of bread. Seriously delicious! Peanut butter and jelly is one of my favourite combinations... actually I really just love anything with peanut butter! I decided to fill these cookie sandwiches with peanut butter buttercream rather then just straight peanut butter. The buttercream is full of peanut butter flavour while being light and fluffy. These oatmeal cookies are delicious on their own. They have a great texture, soft and chewy! They remind me of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips - but trust me you won't miss the chocolate chips once you fill these cookies with peanut butter buttercream and your favourite jam. I choose to use store bought strawberry jam, but if you have a favourite homemade jam by all means this is the perfect time to use it! I hope you enjoy these ooey gooey peanut butter and jelly oatmeal cookie sandwiches as much as I do. 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Oatmeal Cookies 

Makes: 2 dozen cookies or 1 dozen sandwiches 

Ingredients

1.5 c flour

2 c oats

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 c butter

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside

In a medium sized bowl stir to combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy

Add in eggs one at a time scraping down the bowl after each addition. Stir in vanilla

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined. The dough will stick to the sides of the bowl and be fairly sticky once combined

Roll approx 1/8 cups of dough into balls, place on prepared cookie sheets and flatten. I baked 12 cookies per sheet

Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until cookie edges are golden brown. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely

Peanut Butter & Jelly Filling

Ingredients

1/2 c butter

1 c icing sugar

1 c peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Strawberry or Raspberry Jam

Directions

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium speed whip butter until light and fluffy

On medium speed combine whipped butter and icing sugar until just combined. Should resemble a buttercream texture

Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth

Assemble the Cookie Sandwiches

Match cookies by size to make each side of the sandwich. Spread or pipe the peanut butter buttercream on one side of the cookie sandwich. Spread jam on the other. Squish together and enjoy! 

Nutella Cheesecake Brownie Bites

A creamy tart cheesecake swirled with Nutella atop a dense fudge brownie make these Nutella Cheesecake Brownie Bites hard to resist. I dare you to have just one.

Nutella, brownies and cheesecake are a match made in heaven! The cheesecake and brownie combination alone was bound to be delicious but the addition of Nutella really brings this desert from good to great! The simple swirl of Nutella provides visual interest to the dessert and is just enough to wow your friends. The sweet nuttiness of the Nutella paired with the tart cheesecake and the dense chewy brownie is seriously delicious.  I love how these are in a bite (okay more like 3-4 bite) format. It makes it easy for everyone to grab their own and eliminates the need to try and cut pretty looking cheesecake brownie squares.  I recommend enjoying them with a large glass of cold milk! 

The brownies easily come together and the best part is that you can make them in one bowl without the need for a mixer! Less dishes is always a win in my book. They are dense, chocolatey and fudgy.  The recipe requires that you pre-bake them for 10 minutes before adding the cheesecake batter on top. The cheesecake is also fairly simple to make, although it does require a mixer, it is also one bowl. Which means that you only really need two bowls for this entire recipe which is pretty sweet. I kept the cheesecake light on the sugar since we are going to be swirling in Nutella and placing it on top of the brownie. It provides the perfect amount of tart to this otherwise sweet desert. 

Nutella Cheesecake Brownie Bites

Makes: 12

For the Brownie

1/2 c butter, cut in cubes

3 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2c flour

For the Cheesecake

8oz cream cheese

1/4 c sugar

1 egg

1/4 c yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c nutella

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with liners, set aside

In a medium sized bowl, melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave. Microwave at 20 second intervals and stir in between each, until the butter and chocolate are melted

Whisk in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth

Fold in salt and flour until just combined

Spoon approximately, 1 tablespoon of brownie batter into each cupcake liner. They should be 1/2-2/3s full

Bake for 10 minutes

While brownies bake, prepare cheesecake batter. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy

Add egg, yogurt & vanilla to cream cheese mixture. Mix until smooth

Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of cheesecake batter onto each brownie. Top with 1 teaspoon of nutella, swirl nutella into cheesecake batter using a toothpick. Repeat with all 12 cupcakes

Bake for 16 minutes or until the cheesecake starts to pull away from the cupcake liner and centre of the cheesecake is set. Allow brownie cheesecake to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely

Hot Chocolate Layered Cake

A rich, moist chocolate cake filled with layers of chocolate ganache and fluffy whipped cream. The cake is topped with gooey homemade marshmallows making it a true show stopper!

This cake is truly like hot chocolate in cake form. It combines all of my favourite elements of hot chocolate.  During the winter months I love cozying up with a mug of hot chocolate and reading a good book. Or as I have been doing lately, watching a cheesy Christmas movie. When trying to decide on a dessert to add to our table this holiday season I knew I wanted to recreate one of my favourite drinks as a layered cake. The cake itself is a rich chocolate cake that is incredibly moist. I knew when I pulled it out of the oven that it would be delicious based on its rich chocolate smell alone. I wanted to add another chocolate element to the cake and I knew a chocolate ganache would be perfect. I spread a thin layer between each layer to add to the chocolate flavour and moistness of the cake. I went with a naked cake to showcase the beautiful homemade whipped cream frosting. I always forget how delicious and special homemade whipped cream is. I really should make it more often considering how simple it is to make. I had to top the cake with homemade marshmallows! You can't have hot chocolate without marshmallows it just seems wrong.  I kept my cake simple, playing off a classic hot chocolate but it would be easy to make even more festive by swapping the vanilla extract in the cake for peppermint extract and adding crushed candy canes to the chocolate ganache filling for a Peppermint Hot Chocolate variation. 

Homemade Marshmallows

The best part of hot chocolate is of course the marshmallows! I highly recommend making homemade marshmallows to top the cake but if you are short on time store bought marshmallows will work as well. You will need a stand mixer to make homemade marshmallows - a hand mixer's motor just isn't strong enough. I killed a few hand mixers that way in university before finally getting my stand mixer. If you have never made homemade marshmallows before they look more intimidating then they are and they taste divine! A few tips for making marshmallows: read the entire recipe through at least once before you start (this is good practice with any recipe but especially helpful for marshmallows), have your pan prepared before you start making the marshmallow, and have a warm wet cloth available to wipe your hands or clean up any spills! These marshmallows freeze great as well - so if you have any extras just pop them in the freezer. 

Making the Cake

Everything for this cake except the whipped cream frosting can be made a day or two in advanced of when you are going to be serving it. The homemade marshmallows can be made in advanced and frozen - they freeze great and can be frozen for up to 3 months! The cake layers and the ganache can be made a day or two before. Be sure to store the ganache in the fridge and tightly wrap the cakes in plastic wrap. 

Hot Chocolate Layered Cake

Yield: Two 8 inch cakes 

Ingredients:

2 c flour

3/4 c coco powder

2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 c butter, room temperature, cut in cubes

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 c sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 8 inch pans, grease and coat in coco powder

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix together dry ingredients

Cut butter into dry ingredients. Mix until mixture resembles corse sand

On medium speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, scrapping down the side of the bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla and vegetable oil

Stir in sour cream until just incorporated be careful not to over mix

Evenly divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the centre comes out clean

Chocolate Ganache 

Ingredients:

6 oz heavy cream (approx 3/4 c)

6 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions:

In a small heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat, heat cream until just before it boils

Poor heated cream over chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth

Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

2 c whipping cream, cold

1 c powder sugar, sifted

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Place bowl and whisk of stand mixer in the fridge to chill for a least 10 minutes

Beat cream on high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Slowly beat in powdered sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form, be careful not to over beat or cream will start to separate

Marshmallows 

I followed this recipe from the Kitchn for my homemade marshmallows

Assembling the Cake

To assemble the cake. Torte each cake so that you have 4 layers in total. Spread a thin layer of ganache on each layer. Put a small dab of ganache on your cake board and place your bottom layer on top. Fill with fresh whipped cream frosting. Repeat until your cake is assembled. Frost the top of your cake with whipped cream frosting and pile your homemade marshmallows on top. Drizzle with ganache. Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.