Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies {Simple Halloween Mummy Variation}
You absolutely have to try this recipe for homemade Nutter Butter Cookies with a simple Halloween mummy variation!
Do not even ask me why I suddenly got the hankering to make homemade nutter butters.
A) I haven’t had a storebought nutter butter cookie in well over 10 years,
B) I’m not super keen on cookies without chocolate and
C) I don’t have a peanut shaped cookie cutter (hence the circle nutter butters).
But hankering, I got.
I think the seed may have been planted when my 7-year old got a package of nutter butters after his last soccer game and while he was oohing and aahing while shoving them in his mouth (the poor, sheltered child had no idea what they were and had never tasted one before), I had this strong, inner desire to make homemade nutter butters so tasty, so fantastic, he’d never ooh and aah over another storebought, cardboard-tasting nutter butter again.
I have issues. I know.
It took some tweaking and several batches, but happily, a recipe for stellar nutter butter cookies wasn’t too terribly difficult.
I didn’t want a soft, chewy peanut butter cookie but neither did I want a dry, crackly cookie. Somewhere in the middle.
While I usually don’t use specialty ingredients, this recipe does call for rice flour. If you can find it, I highly recommend using it (I ground some jasmine rice from my pantry through my wheat grinder but I’ve seen this in the baking aisle by other specialty flours).
It lends a delightful and tender crispy-lightness to the cookies. If not, try them with all regular flour – they might be slightly heavier, but I have a feeling, they’ll still be terrific (alternately, you could definitely try using all rice flour to make a gluten-free version).
Sandwiched with just a smidgeon of creamy, peanut buttery filling, these homemade nutter butters are pretty darn yummy. My 7-year old, after tasting these, diplomatically declared: “I love all nutter butters equally!” but after catching him snitching two more illegally off the cooling rack, I’m declaring this a point in favor of homemade nutter butters all the way.
My version has cookies slightly thicker and just a tad chewier than the originals and of course the flavor is a bit fresher and the shape isn’t at all authentic – so do they taste exactly like storebought nutter butters? Probably not, but that was kind of the point.
(And just so I don’t get any hate mail from lovers of nutter butters in the red package, keep in mind that in the life of this blog, I’ll probably try to make a homemade version of just about everything so don’t take it personally.)
I threw a Halloween spin onto several of them by drizzling almond bark across (just swishing it across with a fork like in this video) and planting two mini chocolate chips for eyes. When the kids exclaimed: “Wow! Mummies! Cool!”
I decided not to divulge how simple it was to create those wow, cool, mummies.
One Year Ago: Whole Grain Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Two Years Ago: Chicken and Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew
Three Years Ago: Spooky Eats: Jello Worms {Seriously Gross}
Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, softened
- ½ cup (128 g) peanut butter (see note)
- ⅔ cup (141 g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (141 g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (142 g) unbleached all-purpose four
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) rice flour (see note)
Filling:
- ¾ cup (191 g) creamy peanut butter (see note)
- 1 ½ cups (171 g) powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4-6 tablespoons cream or milk
- 1/3-1/2 cup (33 to 50 g) graham cracker crumbs
Instructions
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer), mix together the butter, peanut butter, granulated and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for another 2-3 minutes until the batter is light and creamy.
- Stir in the soda, salt, flour and rice flour until well-combined. Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line one or two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Set aside.
- Portion the dough into balls about 1/2 ounce each (a couple tablespoons of dough per ball). Space them a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and using a fork, make a criss-cross pattern in the top, flattening the balls to about 1/4-inch thick or less while doing so.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- For the filling, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt until smooth and well-combined. Gradually stir in the cream or milk until a soft, spreadable but sturdy texture is reached (you don’t want it runny). Stir in the graham cracker crumbs.
- Spread a teaspoon or so of filling on the bottom side of half the cookies and top with the unfilled cookies (so bottom halves are sandwiching the filling).
- For mummy style: melt white almond bark until smooth and runny. Using a fork (a video demonstration of this method is here), drizzle the almond bark across the top of the cookies to mimic the lines of a mummy. Immediately press two mini chocolate chips into the soft almond bark for eyes. Let the cookies set for a few minutes until the almond bark hardens.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by this recipe and this recipe
These are so fun! I’m making them right now. Quick question: when I measure 1/2 ounce of dough on my kitchen scale, it’s barely even one tablespoon. Are these supposed to be little cookies?
Update! I went with the 1/2 ounce measurement which was a tad shy of one tablespoon and it was perfect. These are delicious! Nutter Butters were a special part of my childhood and I can’t wait to take these to my dad who loved them as much as I did! Thank you!
I do make these pretty small…but you can increase the amount of dough with no issues.
So I made these today and am a bit disappointed. The recipe says to use a couple tbs dough for each cookie but that seemed huge! So I used less and they still seemed big. The cookies aren’t as flavorful as I’d like either. Super sad… but they’ll still get eaten! Especially with a tall glass of milk.
The rice flour flavor was very noticeable to me, and I didn’t love that, but it did give a nice texture, and my son and husband seemed to really like the flavor and everything about them. So that’s good, I can make a treat for them that doesn’t tempt me to eat them all.
Mel, These look great. I wish my grandchildren were close enough to make them together but I’m going to take this recipe with me next time I go to New Jersey to see them. Maybe I’ll make a batch and take some to the little boys who live in the condo upstairs – and decorate them like mummies – they might get a kick out of them. You come up with the best ideas. Your blog is one of my favorites and I read tons of cooking blogs. I’ve thought about blogging but so far I’m just too lazy! LOL
Perfect timing! I was just perusing food blogs looking for something to make to take to work on Monday and it will have to be these cookies!
Mel – the yield says 4-5 dozen cookies. Is that 4-5 doz sandwiches, or individual cookies?
I only got as far as making the dough today – ended up not having time to bake them, so I tossed the dough in the freezer for another day. 🙂
That’s the yield for the sandwich cookies after they are assembled – I made them pretty small so if you make them larger, obviously it will yield less.
Thanks! i think it was the ‘couple of tablespoons of dough per ball’ that made me wonder. I’ll go by weight for a few so that I get the right size. 🙂
It’s been so fun to have a new blog post from you almost every day for the past two weeks! I always look forward to a new recipe from you, so getting them more often has been a treat. Thank you!
These look and sounds amazing Mel! We can’t get nutter butter cookies in Oz so I must make these at home. I know I would love them!
I would just like to say that I think you are brilliant. I have tried so many recipes from your blog, and all of your ideas are so great. Thank you so much!
Thanks – that was so sweet!
I’m so excited to make these!
2 questions: When you say natural peanut butter, do you mean the kind that has no sugar added? And, did you use brown or white rice (I make all your cookies with whole wheat flour and people still always ask for the recipe:)) I’m wanting to use whole grain, but wonder if you think it would taste weird (I’ve never used rice flour in anything).
JC – yes, I used a natural peanut butter with only peanuts (it is a no-stir kind so there isn’t a layer of oil at the top). I used white rice but actually, I think brown rice would work just great, too.
These look amazing, I love peanut butter cookies, so sandwiching them with more peanut butter just makes sense! And your mummies are adorable, I love them!
These look fantastic, yum! As an aside (and for nutter butter purists), I saw someone else’s adaptation of a nutter butter and she just pinched the flattened circles in the middle before baking so that they would turn out sort of peanut shaped! I love the addition of graham cracker crumbs to your filling!
These look perfect for my kids to take to a cousin sleepover this weekend! Just a note, though…make sure your graham crackers are gluten free if you are going the gluten free route.
I must be sheltered. I have never had a nutter butter cookies. BUT these look wonderful. I bake a lot of cookies. So I will have to give these a whirl. About the only store bought cookie that I eat once in a blue moon are Oreos and some short bread cookies.
I love nut butter so this is RIGHT up my street Mel! 🙂
If any of your readers have a Winco Foods nearby, in the bulk section they have rice flour, both white and brown types.
Now I’ve got a hankering for nutter butters too. haha
I know I’m in a tiny minority, but I don’t like peanut butter. Don’t hate it, but I don’t like it well not enough to make something flavored with it. I make my own nut butters – almond, pecan, cashew and macadamia nut.
This recipe seems like a good way to adapt Nutter Butters for a non-peanut lover.
Thanks.
The story is just as good as the recipe!
I love this cookie, especially the mummy version. Wow, graham crackers in the filling–that surprised me, but sounds delicious. You are the best mom (and blogger)!!!
These look so good, love nutter butters! 🙂 The mummy is so cute 🙂
Yum! The mummy cookie is adorable, Mel!
Ooh these look good. I can hardly wait for your kids to try oreos,twix bars,twinkies, and all of my other childhood favorites. HaHa. Seriously, these cookies look really good. Thanks Mel
Cyndi – trust, you me, they’ve tried lots of other treats like that, but for some reason nutter butters hadn’t made it down their gullets yet. 🙂