Cookie Butter Sandwich Cookies

Cookie Butter Sandwich Cookies - made dough November 1, 2014, recipe adapted from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

I'm still on my one-track mind with cookie butter in case you can't tell with the third recipe in a row I've blogged about with it. I’ve had this recipe in my “to be made” file for so long, it was created in an older version of Word than I use today if that gives you any indication. Long on baking intentions, short on execution. But I finally got to it, mostly because I’m still on my cookie butter kick and wanted to make a real shortbread sandwich cookie this time instead of just glazing them.

The original recipe called for making these butter sugar cookies as industrial size and sandwiching them with jam. I don’t believe in big sandwich cookies (too much commitment) and I certainly don’t believe in jam (too sweet and I don’t like the texture or taste) so I adjusted this to suit my taste prejudices. I made the cookie rounds a bit small, around 2 inches in diameter instead of 3. I could’ve used a cookie cutter to ensure even sizes but if you’re like me and lazy about rolling out dough, chilling it, cutting it, rolling it out again, etc, the handshaping method works almost just as well, especially as this dough is easy to work with – not too sticky or dry. And if some of the cookie rounds don’t turn out exactly the same size or not quite perfectly round, your tasters won’t care after the first bite. Heck, they may not even care at all and you just saved yourself some work.

One thing you can do to even the odds to be ever in your favor is to use a cookie scoop so that at least you’re starting with the same amount of dough each time. What you end up with as you shape the rounds is up to you. Don’t make them too thick; remember you’re eating two of them with some scrumptious cookie butter in the middle.

The tricky thing about baking this type of butter sugar cookie is you don’t want to overbake them (they’ll be crunchy and/or dry) but you don’t want to underbake them too much either as they’ll have a heavy, possibly greasy texture. I bake them until I can see a slight golden brown around the edges and the middles don’t look like shiny raw dough. Please do not bake these until they’re golden brown all over. Not unless you’re trying to make Nilla Wafers. These don’t spread very much so they stay in almost the same shape and thickness as you bake them. Wait until they’re completely cooled before sandwiching them with cookie butter. These are more of a butter sugar cookie than a true shortbread but they still have a good vanilla and butter flavor to complement the cookie butter filling.

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Egg yolk and a bit of water, before baking, optional

Cookie butter for filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a mixer or food processor, cream butter and sugar into a pasty mixture. Add egg and vanilla and blend well.
3. Fold in flour, baking powder, and salt to make a stiff dough, drizzling in cream as dough comes together. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to ¾” thickness. Cut into 1 or 2-inch rounds (I prefer smaller for cookie sandwiches). Place cookies on prepared baking sheets and brush each with some egg yolk glaze (I skipped this part).
5. Bake until done, about 15-20 minutes, and cookies begin to brown around edges and are golden brown all over. Let cool on baking sheets.
6. For each sandwich, smear cookie butter on the bottom of one cookie and then top with another cookie.