Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Peanut Caramel

These Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies would be pretty amazing on their own. Adding the salted peanut caramel takes them to a whole new level. You need to try them.

These will be your go-to peanut butter cookies. I promise. They were so easy to make, and when I took them to work, they flew off of the plate.

If you'd like to have peanut butter cookies on demand, you can make the dough and portion it into tablespoon sized balls to freeze for up to 3 months. Just defrost them for about a half an hour and bake as described below.

If you prefer chocolate, or if you want to pair this cookie with another thumprint cookie, you might want to try my devil's food thumbprint cookie too. 

Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Peanut Caramel

Makes about 40 cookies

Ingredients

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1/2 C (4 ounces) packed light brown sugar

1/2 C (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 C (7.5 ounces) creamy peanut butter

1 3/4 C (8.75 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Peanut caramel, recipe >here

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Mix the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, until well blended and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until fully mixed in. 
3. Add the peanut butter and mix until fully incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the mixture, all at once, to the butter/sugar mixture, and mix until just incorporated. 
5. Using a tablespoon sized scooper, or a tablespoon, scoop out the dough and roll each piece into a ball. Place each piece onto the baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. 
6. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, or a rounded teaspoon (or your thumb!), place a one inch indent into the center of the cookies. 
7. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 14 minutes. When you remove the baking sheet, re-press the kitchen utensil into the center of the cookies to reinforce the indent in the middle. 
8. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. 
9. Fill the centers with the Peanut caramel. 
10. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to three days... if they last that long. 

Adapted from The Art & Soul of Baking.