chocolate sandwich cookies.

It has been a tough few days here in my household. I won't go into the details of the accident, but over the weekend, my three-year old managed to get his thumb completely crushed, resulting in fractured bones and hand surgery. He has been a real trooper when dealing with the pain, but he has still been quite scared and emotional at various points throughout the day. The good part for him, though, is that he is getting spoiled like crazy, which means new toys, tons of hugs and snuggling, and you guessed it, sweets.

This morning when he woke up, I told him that I was going to bake him whatever he wanted. After pulling out his cookbooks and sitting on my lap while I peered through recipes online, he decided on some Oreo-like chocolate sandwich cookies. We filled them with bright orange vanilla cream, perfect for Halloween. I think I have been enjoying them even more than he has- they are just so good when dunked in a tall glass of soy milk.







Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla-Cream Filling: from Retro Desserts

Ingredients:

For Cookie Dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg
For Vanilla-Cream Filling:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a food processor or the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. While pulsing or on low speed, add the butter, then the egg. Process or beat until the dough is thoroughly blended and massed together. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheets at 2-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, round out the cookies and flatten them a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pans once for even baking, until the cookies are set. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the filling: Put the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and, at low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, until blended. Turn the mixer up to high and beat for 2 or 3 minutes more, until fluffy.

With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip, pipe teaspoon size blobs of filling onto the tops of half the cookies. Keeping the smooth bottoms of the cookies facing up, flip the remaining cookies on top of the filling and lightly press to form sandwiches.