4/2/11

Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches


I like to call these, "half-baked cookies", after the Ben and Jerry's flavor with brownies and cookies dough. As some of you loyal readers (hi mom!) may remember, I spent several summers through college working at the gift shop in the Ben and Jerry's factory in my home town of Waterbury, Vermont. If you're ever in the Waterbury area, you should definitely stop by there and take a tour. In fact, if you are there during the summer you might run across one of my lovely sisters. Reason itself for going, I think.

Of course, if you are in the Waterbury area it's probably because you are already on your way to the factory. Waterbury has little else to boast of.

Besides my lovely sisters.

Oh, and parents. (hi, mom!)

I've been playing around with the idea of making a chocolate sandwich cookie filled with cookie dough for a little while. I love how the two of them taste together. I mean, what's not to love? Brownies, cookie dough . . . awesome, right? I tried a couple chocolate cookie recipes but none were "brownie" enough or soft enough for me. Then I got the bright idea to leave out the raspberry extract and sugar coating from these cookies and found that they were perfect. Soft, chocolatey, delicious.


The next step was a cookie dough filling. I only want to make people sick from overeating, not salmonella, so I worked on a filling that was eggless but still held together well. I had tried a few cookie dough dips that used cream cheese but they didn't really taste like cookie dough to me. More like cream cheese. In fact, this might be the one time I know of where cream cheese didn't make something taste better.  Eventually I tried using marshmallow creme, which worked really well for the filling. It held it together and provided some sweetness. I also figured out that any filling without flour didn't really taste like cookie dough, so I put some of that in, too. Ditto for the vanilla extract.

The end result are some sandwich cookies that have great brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. The brownie cookies are very chocolatey, so make sure you use a good size scoop of filling between the sandwich layers. That's right, I'm telling you that it's necessary. You just have to. You're welcome.




Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches
HeatOvenTo350 Published 04/02/2011
Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches

Ingredients

For the Cookies:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the Filling:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 13 oz container marshmallow creme
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

For the Cookies: 

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Combine the salt, cocoa, flour, baking powder and baking soda and gradually stir into the creamed mixture.
  3. Shape dough into 1 1/2 T sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Flatten cookies slightly with the bottom of a drinking glass or your palm.
  4. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and the tops are cracked, but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Filling:
  1. With an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and beat well. Add flour and beat until all the flour is incorporated. Add remaining ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth. (It will be fairly thick).
Assembling the Sandwiches:
  1. Scoop about 3T of filling onto to bottom of a cooled cookie. Top with another cookie and eat.
Yield: 15 large sandwiches
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min



35 Click For Comments:

These sound amazing and dangerous at the same time. I may or may not want to whip up a bowl of just the cookie dough filling.

Are these real?! Oh my goodness. In love. Ice cream is my total weakness, I love it so much. I could literally eat ice cream every day if that was somehow allowed. Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream - is there anything better? I've actually never had half baked, but I know I would enjoy it in cookie form.

Oooh these cookies look positively sinful and delicious! Yum!

this is some serious YUM right here! I probably would eat the filling by spoonfuls BEFORE it even made its way between the cookies! lol What masterpieces!

These are officially on my "to-make list"...and SOON!

Oh man...these look seriously amazing!! Cookie dough filling between two brownie cookies?! Love it!! :)

Thanks, everyone! Yes, they are sinful. I suggest making them only when can share them with other people. Lots of other people.

And yes, I went through many spoons when making these because somehow lots of the filling would end up on them and in my mouth.

What a great idea!!! Do these hold together pretty well for travelling? Or do you have to assemble them soon before digging in?

You are evil. My will to diet just packed it up and went to Toldeo :)

Sorry for the temptation. ;)

@Amy - They do travel well. The filling itself is very thick and pretty sturdy due to the flour in it, so they hold together really well. I made them an hour or so before bringing them to my brother and sister-in-law's for dinner and they were just fine. I don't know if I'd stack them more than two deep, though. Eventually that filling would get squished a bit.

These brownie cookies look great, can't wait to try a batch. Thanks for sharing.

amazing! the fatkid inside of me is crying tears of joy!

I adore Ben & Jerry's! Their new "Late-Night Snack" flavor is amazing...it has chocolate covered potato chips. Half-Baked is one of my favorites, too.

lol love your writing!
these look absolutely sinful!!! great recipe, nicole! i really want to try them.

Wow is all I can say. These look amazing!

Half-Baked is my husband's favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor - he'd love these! I am so excited to make them!

oh INCREDIBLE. i can't wait to make these!

Nicole if you wanted me to come over, all you would have to do is wave these in front of my face. I have to try these. I like it over here, can't wait to come back.
-Gina-

I just made these last night and they are so yummy!! What a great recipe.

I'm so glad you liked them, Marla!

I am finishing up making these and couldn't wait to post...they are FABULOUS. I'm bringing them to an early spring bbq this weekend and I can guarantee they will be a hit. Just a note- mine are about 2.5 inches in diameter and I ended up with 60 sandwich cookies. But as far as I'm concerned, that just means I can eat four instead of one! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I'm so glad you liked them, Sarah! That's a great idea to make the cookies a little smaller. At the size I make them, I often tell people they might want to cut them in half because they are so rich. Have a great time at your BBQ!

I am personally excited to eat them. I just finished making them, and my only question is: did you really mean 2.5 cups of flour for the dough? because i taste tested and it tastes very floury.. I'm not sure what I might be missing?

I just made and taste tested these and agree that there is a bit too much flour. Cookies are delicious!

hi this looks awesome will have to try it out thanks for posting this.

I just made these and here's what I think..... They are prettier than they taste. They are almost too rich! I mean, a POUND of butter, over 2 cups of sugar, over 3 cups of flour! They taste good, the cookie/brownie is a little dry. The filling is so thick and rich I have a headache from the taste test. Im taking this to a party tonight and will be interesting to see what others think. I will let you know seeing I am the first review on these. Kudos for creating a cookie dough like filling, it really is similar.... just something is off.....

Thanks for your assessment, Charity. I'm sorry you didn't love them. I changed comment platforms from when this was first posted, and I wish the comments had transferred so you could compare your thoughts to what other said. Most people seem to love them although one reader had a great suggestion to make the cookies more bite sized.

Ok, follow up review.... Ya know when you want cake really bad so you make one, and by the time you finish it your not interested in eating it anymore? I think thats what happened to me yesterday when i made these. I actually ate one 2 hours later and it was WAY better than right after I made them. I was on a sugar/butter overload. So I will say they are delish and everyone at the party loved them. I did feel like I was creating sin with all that butter though! lol :) These are a treat and they showcase beautifully... The filling holds up better than any Ive made :) I cant wait to try your peanut butter chocolate "reeses" next!

Thanks for your followup review, Charity. I have eaten myself sick more than once while baking cookies so I can understand sugar saturation. :) I agree that the filling is really rich. Definitely better for sharing than for a snack at home. I'm glad they worked well for you at the party. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience.

I absolutely LOVE this recipe! I have made these cookies for every occasion since I discovered this about eight months ago. Every time I make them, there's a dispute about who gets to take what's left over (yeah right!) home!

My only regret is that I didn't discover this recipe while I was pregnant, and craving cookie dough more than I had ever craved anything ever in my life! This is almost a perfect, egg free, replica of cookie dough!

Thank you SO much for this incredible recipe!

I love that you love these! Thanks for stopping by to let me know. I just had my second baby almost two months ago and I don't know why I never thought to make the filling to satisfy my cookie dough craving when I was pregnant. I even complained to my husband (while making cookies) how much I missed sneaking the dough! I'm remembering this for my third. :)

I made these last night for the first time- yum! They were delicious. My husband and I both loved them. I especially love the cookie dough icing- I love the idea of using marshmallow fluff! I think I have a new favorite girls' night treat. Thanks! :)

I’ve never really been a fan of sandwich cookies, but your description of these ones have convinced me to make them!

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