Fluffernutter Cookies

Sorry I don’t have pictures of this genius idea, but they were Alex’s Christmas present, and they were devoured pretty quickly.

I had made peanut butter sandwich cookies with Nutella a few months ago, but as I was cleaning out my pantry, I saw a nearly finished jar of marshmallow Fluff and had a stroke of genius: replace the Nutella with Fluff!

Fluffernutter sandwiches are apparently a predominantly East Coast thing… my roommate from Seattle had never even heard of the slightly bizarre concoction. My father, however, had made these sandwiches for us forever, so I was very used to them when I was growing up.

Fluff is something I never crave when I’m home, but the second I’m in France, it becomes unavailable, and somehow I end up persuading my mother to bring me jars of the stuff, along with American chunky peanut butter. Leave it to me to turn a perfectly normal French guy on to one of the weirdest American sandwiches.

Somehow, Fluff (pronouced “Floof” in French), has become one of Alex’s favorite foods, so I knew he would love these cookies. Feel free to use your own peanut butter cookie recipe: the cookies from this one come out sort of flat, which works for sandwiches, but they’re not that pretty on their own.

Fluffernutter Cookies

For the cookies:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. chunky peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.

Using a wooden spoon, combine the butter and peanut butter until well mixed: there should be no visible butter. Add the vanilla and sugars and mix well to combine. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Using a tablespoon, make equal portions of the cookie dough. Roll them into balls between your palms (wet hands help), and place them on a greased baking tray. Using a fork (again, a bit of water helps), create hatchmarks in the tops of the cookies. Note: they WILL spread. Make sure to give them lots of room.

Bake cookies 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

For the sandwiches:

Pair off the cookies so that they are in sets of two that are approximately the same size. Place one tablespoon of Fluff on one side of a cookie, and use its pair to flatten it down and create a sandwich. Note: Fluff will become softer and ooze, so make sure you serve them with napkins!