Continuing on with trying to give this last weekend’s baking a bit of a St Patrick’s Day feel, I made these cookies with a green peppermint frosting and used the same Baileys Irish Cream frosting that I used in the mini cupcakes.
When I was looking for a cookie recipe on Friday evening I asked Mr Fussy about a chocolate sandwich cookie and he shook his head. I went on to try and sell him on these by explaining they were “fudgey”. That sold him. I might re-think my vocation.
I can’t believe how simple the recipe is. It’s all cooked in the one pot and then the cookies themselves take just 6-7 minutes of baking. I was a bit stunned and kept saying over and over to Mr Fussy how easy this recipe was and how quickly you could whip up a fresh batch of cookies to take out.
The brown sugar in the recipe will be mostly responsible for the fudgey texture. I used Nestle cocoa for this recipe. I decided the Equagold Dutch processed cocoa would be just a little too bitter. I also told Mr Fussy to avert his gaze as I measured out the yoghurt. Yes there’s yoghurt in this recipe. I’ve never made a cookie before that included yoghurt. Is it just me?
The recipe spoke of using a small cookie scoop. I don’t have one and measured out the dough as 1 tablespoon and at first was trying to place the dough onto the silpat as a neat-ish round. When I got to the second tray the dough didn’t want to come out of the tablespoon quite as well and accidentally I touched it and realised that while it looks like it’s really soft and would be difficult to handle, it actually rolled into balls very nicely. I used the back of a dessertspoon to flatten the balls. There’s not much in the way of spreading so they pretty much bake as they are. And I didn’t want mounds.
Chocolate Fudge Sandwich Cookies by Tracey’s Culinary Adventures
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
42 gm unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- In medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium pan melt the butter over low heat. When the butter is melted take the pot off the heat and mix in the cocoa then the sugars. The mixture will appear quite sandy.
- Add to the pot the vanilla extract and yoghurt. When the liquid ingredients are well blended add in the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
- Measure out 1 tablespoon lots of cookie dough and gently roll into balls. Place the balls onto an oven tray lined with a silpat or baking paper. Leave a gap of around 2 cm between each cookie.
- Use the back of a spoon to gently flatten the balls to around 5mm if you want a flat-ish cookie.
- Bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes. The sides only need to start firming up. Rotate the tray half way through the baking time.
- Leave the baked cookies on the tray for 10-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- When the cookies are completely cool frost with your favourite frosting.
My Notes:
- I used a frosting made of butter and shortening. It’s become my favourite frosting to use. I coloured half the amount I needed with green and added a few drops of Peppermint oil. The other half was the Baileys Irish Cream frosting that I also used in the mini cupcakes (link at the top).
- I piped the frosting using a piping bag and Wilton 12 tip, but it’s not essential. Leave a gap around the edge as the frosting will squish as you sandwich the two cookies together.
These cookies have a lovely chewy texture and a very definite chocolate taste. Mr Fussy was well pleased with how they turned out, given his initial reluctance on Friday night for the suggestion.
Mr Fussy tells me there’s a guy at his work that likes to compare morning teas. If there were points being awarded, I understand Mr Fussy would be leading. I have to admit that after I found out, I was a little nervous last Monday asking what the workmate had brought for morning tea, and was Mr Fussy’s the better looking/tasting. Not that I’m competitive 
These cookies can be frozen, either filled or not. I’ve suggested Mr Fussy wrap some up and put them in the freezer. Then he can just grab them from the freezer when he’s ready. Of course our freezers (yes plural, two upright freestanding freezers) are chocka. And there’s a lot of small bags of frosting, cookie dough and muffins in there amongst all manner of other frozen foods.
5 March, 2013 at 9:39 pm
These look interesting – they remind me of an American recipe I used to make called Gobs. They had a boiled then beaten filling. Can you tell me how long these would last in the tin – I mean keeping qualities, not whether or not they get eaten! Every second Saturday I meet with a group of ladies to stitch and have afternoon tea. We all like to try different things. Actually I am starting to think the stitching is just an excuse to get to the food and tea!
5 March, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Hi Alison, this is the first time I’ve made these. Mr Fussy says they’re still as fresh as they were on Sunday. I’ll update again when they’re gone. I made them Saturday and sandwiched them on Sunday. They’re stored in a Tupperware container. I think it doesn’t matter what the excuse is, trying new things is fun
5 March, 2013 at 10:11 pm
Is it only me and your mother reading yur blog? Imagine if you had a “leave a comment” giveaway – suddenly you would have a large following. I see it all the time – I faithfully try to encourage those who blog by leaving comments but always get pipped at the post by the lurkers, Oh well, never mind, I hope you like me keeping in touch!
5 March, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Haha, I have decided you’re my most active “follower”. Well the comment stats back that up. Actually the last few days my blog has received about 50 hits a day. Perhaps people are accidentally finding their way here. Today I see I’ve had more visitors from the USA than NZ, by almost double the numbers. Really I’d love it if more people had time to make comments and felt at ease saying something. It’s why I created the Facebook page, in case people found that more socially acceptable to “discuss” than leaving a comment on the blog post. I’m always happy to have a natter and enjoy the interaction
7 March, 2013 at 9:21 pm
If I wanted to make these but didn’t want to buy Kremelta for the frosting – do you have any suggestions for an alternative that isn’t too sugary?
7 March, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Hi Alison, the cookies are still standing up well. I had one tonight. You can swap the Kremelta for butter. So instead of 1/2 and 1/2 of Butter and Kremelta, it’s all butter. That’s the way I used to make buttercream. And you can halve the recipe for the buttercream if you wish, though the remainder will freeze well. You really wont need much for the sandwich cookies. Are you going to bake them for your stitching group?
7 March, 2013 at 9:50 pm
You betcha – i’ll blow their socks off with these- not that it’s a competition (nudge nudge, wink wink)
7 March, 2013 at 10:00 pm
Of course not
Have fun, and let me know if their feet are cold from lack of socks 
8 March, 2013 at 7:26 pm
All made and ready for tomorrow – why use vanilla in the filling when you can use Baileys!
8 March, 2013 at 10:27 pm
Exactly! Though I don’t much like Baileys as it turns out. But I vote to flavour all frosting so long as it wont compete with the flavour of the cookie. As an aside, the cookies were all in the same Tupperware container. The Peppermint in the green frosting ended up tainting the Baileys frosting. The Peppermint flavour wasn’t overpowering at all.
9 March, 2013 at 9:08 pm
Boo hoo, beaten by the ginger crunch with oats in it and the weetbix chocolate slice! The girls thought these were too chocolatey and the filling too sweet. Wish there was a way of making filling that didn’t set your teeth on edge.
9 March, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Well Ginger Crunch is hard to beat, I’ll admit that. But too chocolatey? Using Cream Cheese instead of butter dulls some of the sweetness. Tough crowd Alison.