Quit yer honkin', Nancy

One of my kids' favorite movies is Over the Hedge.  Cute animals trying to survive the encroachment of suburbia.  Hell yeah!  Like lots of animated kids' movies, my husband and I are often laughing aloud at some of the dialogue as well.  One of our favorite characters from this movie is the Pest Exterminator, Dwayne LaFontaine (associates degree from VermTech!), who is voiced by Thomas Haden Church, which is another reason to love this guy.

Didelphis marsupialis virginianus. Approximately ten pounds.

Besides the title of this post, our other favorite Dwayne line is:  Stand down, sister!  These are great things to say to your spouse when they are being hyper or annoying.

In one scene of the movie, the animals are trying to steal some "girlscout" cookies:

"And there they are. America's most coveted cookies: Love Handles, Skinny Mints, Neener-Neeners, and Smackeroons. And guess what? They're all yours!"

 Well, of course this bit of dialogue got our family discussing what flavors Love Handles and Neener-Neeners would be.  We decided to try our hand at developing at least one of these cookies, and thus, I proudly present to you our interpretation of the Neener-Neener:  a chocolate-striped, peanut-butter sandwich cookie filled with strawberry frosting.  Enjoy!

Neener-Neeners
makes approximately 10-12 sandwich cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies:

1/2 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (dealer's choice)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 flax egg (3 T. warm water mixed with 1 T. ground flax seeds)
1 1/4 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter and peanut butter together in a medium bowl.  Add the sugars and cream thoroughly.  Add the flax egg and mix well.  Add rest of ingredients to bowl and mix well.  Form into balls about the size of a walnut.  Place about 3" apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment or silpat.  Flatten with fork to make criss-cross pattern.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Set aside to cool.

Strawberry Frosting:

3 T. vegan shortening (I used Earth Balance stick variety)
1 T. vegan butter
1/4 cup strawberry puree or strawberry jam (I used homemade Strawberry Lemon Marmalade)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening, butter & jam together until light and fluffy.  Beat in powdered sugar, then vanilla.  If too thick, add a little non-dairy milk (just a smidge at a time!).  Fill cookie sandwiches with a heaping tablespoonful of frosting.

Chocolate stripes:

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, melted in microwave.  Drizzle over cookies.

Jake is happy to pose with a tray full of cookies.