Giant Homemade Girl Scout Cookies II: Do-Si-Do's, Woot!

I'm sorry, but who doesn't need a giant, dense peanut-butter cookie cake in their baking repertoire? (Peanut-allergy sufferers aside) I know I sure as hell do.

Which is why I came up with one! The cookie is salty, and the perfect blend of chewy and crumbly (and not too sweet).  The filling makes everything moist, and adds a sweetness that would be too cloying if it was present throughout the whole cookie, but is perfect in little bites as you eat each slice.

And so I present to you, darling hedonistic readers, my recipe for a Giant Homemade Do-Si-Do Girl Scout Cookie, with tips and tricks at the bottom.

For the cookie:
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter, room temperature
2 large eggs  and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 9 inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottom with parchment, and coat the parchment with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, with a mixer on medium-high, until combined and fluffy.  Beat in the peanut butter, then the eggs and vanilla. On low, mix in flour mixture until combined.  The batter will be slightly pasty and thick, but pourable.

Spread 1/3 of the batter into the pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until browned on the edges and barely set up in the middle.  Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan to continue cooling on a rack. Prepare the pan once again with the cooking spray and parchment paper, and pour the remaining 2/3 of the batter into the pan.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, until browned and barely set.  Remove from the oven and use a small water glass to cut a circular hole in the top of the cookie, Girl Scout Cookie styles. Let cool.

To construct:

First, run a knife around the edge of the cookies to smooth and round them and remove any extra crispy bits.

Beat all of your filling ingredients until blended, and place in a piping bag with a large star tip.

Take the thinner cookie (the one you made with 1/3 of the batter) and put it on your display plate. Using the piping bag, run a thick bead of filling around the edge, and then "stack" another bead of filling on top of that. Use the piping bag to add a single layer of filling to the rest of the top of the cookie, reserving approximately 1 cup of the filling in the piping bag. Place the thicker cookie on the top of the filling on the thinner cookie, "sandwich" style. Pipe a decorative swirl into the whole you cut out of the top, and serve.

Tips and Tricks:

• Don't over-bake the cookie.  It will firm up as it cools and sets.
• You could also probably use two cake pans to do this, and make both cookies at the same time, but then put parchment paper around the rim as well as on the bottom.
• Try to get the top cookie in the oven as soon as you can...if you dawdle, the baking powder will eventually lose its potency.