The title of this post will probably be terrible for SEO but only nerds care about that.
We’re making COOKIE sandwiches!
I took two different cookie recipes that I’ve tweaked and baked a few times before and turned them into cookie sandwiches that you can recreate for your holiday gatherings. With these recipes, you’ll be sure to impress all your friends, relatives and enemies.
I’m going to briefly discuss both sandwich cookies and post links to each recipe and at the bottom of this post I’m sharing some tips, tricks and strategies that I think are important when making cookies and cookie sandwiches. Here’s some simple navigation or what we in the business call a cookie sandwich table of contents:
The molasses spiced cookie
This is my mom’s molasses spiced cookie recipe that I have stolen, and I only changed it slightly. My mom’s version uses white sugar which I swapped to brown sugar. I’ve learned (on the internet and in practice) changing to brown sugar allows a cookie to be a bit more chewy and less crunchy. This cookie is one of my favorites in a crunchy or chewier version, but I think they really need a little bit of chewiness in this situation to work well as the outside of a cookie sandwich.
My wife suggested a citrus based cream filling to pair with the molasses and ginger spicing of the cookie. This turned out to be a great idea and now we’re enjoying the flavors of molasses, ginger and orange in one bite.
Most of the cookies that I made from these batches were between 1 and 2 teaspoons portions. I used a teaspoon measuring spoon but at some point, later in the process I had purchased a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop. My focus was to make similarly sized portions and then roll them into balls for baking.
The orange cream filling
Cream cheese and orange juice go a long way to adding extra flavor to our molasses cookie, but it’s the orange zest that really packs the citrus punch.
Soften your cream cheese and butter by leaving them on the counter and this filling comes together in the amount of time your cookies bake. Throw the creamy mixture in the refrigerator while the cookies cool and then skip to the part where you’re spreading filling into your sandwiches.
I use a zip top bag with a tiny corner cut off to spread the filling into each sandwich cookie. But you can read more about that later.
Molasses spiced cookie sandwiches
Here’s my full Molasses spiced cookie with an orange cream filling sandwich recipe. Give it a shot, you’ll be happy you did.
Molasses spiced cookie sandwich with orange cream
These are based off my mom's molasses cookie recipe that she always makes during the holidays. I added a citrus based filling and sandwiched them all together for a winning combination.
Get RecipeThe brown Butterfinger cookie
The brown Butterfinger cookie is based off a cookie I’ve baked a few times from a Bon Appetit chocolate chip cookie recipe. My version uses broken up Butterfinger pieces and I have added a filling to complete the sandwich. I also changed the baking powder amount and adjusted the salt since I so often have salted butter in my fridge (I give salted vs unsalted butter options in my recipe).
Browned butter or brown butter is a simple stove top cooking process that changes the flavor of plain butter into an ingredient that adds nutty and toasted notes to a recipe. In this case, we’re making a cookie that’s like a chocolate chip style cookie, which will benefit greatly from any nuttiness we can add. Also, any nuttiness should make the cookie pair a little better with the filling option we’ve chosen.
Just know that these cookies do not rise very much. They’re still a bit crisp on the outside ring and they stay chewy in the middle for 5 or 6 days. The chunks of Butterfinger add so much texture to an already flavorful cookie. But you won’t have big thick cookies from this recipe. That’s not the point. When we add the filling, two thinner cookies will make a better sandwich.
In my MANY tests on this cookie, a tablespoon scooped out of a tablespoon spoon measure was the right size for the Brown Butterfinger sandwich cookie. I would scoop out of the bowl with the tablespoon measure and then I would roll that into a ball. Then I’d throw all the balls into the freezer while the oven pre-heated to temperature.
The Nutella Butterfinger filling
The filling combines both the nutty and chocolate flavors of Nutella with the chocolate and peanut buttery flavors of broken up Butterfinger candy bars. Basically, we’re building a smooth and sweet filling that is both chocolaty and peanut buttery with a smattering of crunch.
This filling will work on other cookies as well. It’s just a solid filling option to remember for future cookie sandwiches.
The brown Butterfinger sandwich cookie
This is the full brown Butterfinger sandwich cookie recipe with a bit of Nutella Butterfinger filling smushed into the middle.
Brown Butterfinger cookie sandwich with Nutella filling
This sandwich cookie happily introduces you to the Mayor of FlavorTown. The focus is on Butterfinger crunch and Nutella's nutty chocolate, but you can change up the Butterfinger for any candy bar you wish. Just use the same weight/amount and it will work just fine.
Get RecipeSome cookie baking tips
Measure your cookies
I’m not talking about using a tape measure like I do in my photos. I’m a weirdo.
You should measure your cookies prior to cooking with measuring spoons or a cookie scoop (or even better – use a scale).
I bought this two-teaspoon cookie scoop from Amazon and it works pretty well for cookie sandwich sized cookies. If you want small (think Oreo) sized cookies, you can go with a one teaspoon scoop, but I personally think 2 teaspoons is a pretty good size.
Measure your cookies and you’ll make more consistent cookies from batch to batch.
Rest your cookie dough/batter
Resting after the initial mixing of flour and liquid is a strategy I have learned in bread making.
There is something known as the autolyse method in the bread world which is a process of giving the flour time to become properly hydrated by the liquid in the dough. What it means is in this situation is that you give your cookie batter time to rest, allowing the flour to absorb the liquid in the recipe. There are articles written about the cookie dough resting process that can explain all this in more detail.
Just be aware that resting the dough is important and don’t skip the resting step.
Chill your cookie dough/batter
If your cookie dough or batter is too thin, throw it in the fridge prior to baking.
A lot of recipes mention the refrigeration step, but if you want to have easy to handle cookie batter/dough, you can put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour to firm up. This will make the dough much easier to scoop and manipulate with your hands.
Chilling the dough is helpful to make sure you can consistently make similar sized and shaped cookies.
Make tall “balls”
If you’re trying to make cookies that are taller, make your balls taller.
🎶I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller. 🎶
You don’t have to shape balls of cookie dough; you can shape cylinders and they will take longer to settle into place or flatten during the baking process. This isn’t a foolproof solution, your cookies will still flatten, but this idea, plus chilling the cookie batter could really help to slow down a cookie recipe that is pancaking too fast.
Sandwich filling: use a piping bag or zip-top bag
The best way to spread your sandwich fillings would be using a piping bag or a zip-top bag full of your filling and then if using a zip-top bag, you cut the very tip of one corner off so you can easily squirt out just the right amount of filling with no mess.
A plastic bag full of cookie sandwich filling is easiest to use because it reduces the mess.
EXTRA tip: replace your baking soda and baking powder
Change your baking soda and baking powder every six months once opened. I’m going to make a new effort to throw mine out every New Year’s Day and July 4th and replace unopened boxes. I suggest you do something similar.
Tis the season to make more cookies!
Turn cookies into cookie sandwiches.
Check back next week when we are possibly making a sandwich that could escape from a French island prison. If your dad made you read the books he enjoyed as a kid, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Otherwise, subscribe! Thanks for reading!
