Brownie Sandwich Cookies with Cookie Dough Frosting
Fudgy brownie-like cookie sandwiches with rich cookie dough buttercream.
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Piping bags
- Piping tip - I used Wilton 2A
Ingredients
For brownie cookies
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 8 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate bars)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
For cookie dough buttercream
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1.5-2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp milk or cream
Instructions
To make the brownie cookies:
- Microwave butter and chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl until melted; heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, vanilla, and sugar together on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until creamy.
- Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Once butter-chocolate mix has cooled slightly, add to ingredients in stand mixer, mixing just until combined.
- Gradually incorporate dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, beating on low speed and scraping down the sides as needed. Mix until just incorporated. The dough will seem very liquid-y and more like batter than dough, but it will stiffen in the fridge.
- Chill dough in fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. You don't want to skip this step, as the chilling time stiffens the dough!
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Scoop rounded tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Let cookies sit on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
To make the cookie dough buttercream:
- In bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Mix in the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Then, gradually add 1.5 cups of confectioner's sugar.
- Beat in vanilla and cream. If the frosting seems too thick, add an additional tablespoon of cream; if it seems too thin, add another half cup to a cup of confectioner's sugar.
To assemble cookie sandwiches:
- For each cookie sandwich, pipe frosting onto the bottom side of one cookie. Top with another cookie, with the crinkly top facing up. Repeat to make 12 cookie sandwiches (using 24 cookies total).
Notes
Don't skip the chilling time! It's absolutely necessary to stiffen the dough. If chilling overnight, leave dough at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes after removing from fridge so it will scoop more easily.
If you're concerned about using raw flour in your buttercream, you can most definitely bake the flour first. Simply spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes.