Also known as Reindeer Poop

These decadent cookies have taken on a new name thanks to my children and mother's creativity. This is a staple Christmas cookie that has a lovely dark brown, soft chocolate exterior and mouth watering sweet peanut butter filling. This recipe is from one of my favorite baking books, The Damn Tasty Guide to Vegan Baking by Kris Holechek of Portland, OR. We picked this book up at Veg-Fest a couple years ago and I was sold by the samples of this cookie. Mine always seem to be much larger but still just as delicious. One is all you need!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shells

Dry:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teas. baking soda

Wet:
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup rice milk
1 teas. vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling:
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter- chunky is great!
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. In a large bowl beat together margarine, sugar, brown sugar. Add milk. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated.

For the filling, combine powdered sugar and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until sugar is absorbed and peanut butter feels stiffer. Add chocolate chips. It should be a pretty solid mixture because you want to form it into little balls. If it’s still oily or thin, add a little more powdered sugar.

Using a piece of dough just a bit smaller than the size of a golf ball, flatten the dough into a disc on a piece of parchment paper. Place a heaping teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture on the center of the dough. Carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball. If the dough gets dry, add a splash of milk to moisten it.

Place balls on baking sheet, seam down, about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 8 minutes, until the surface begins to slightly crack. Let cool for 1 minute on the sheet then transfer to cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen.

*The dough should be similar in texture and malleability to Play-doh.