Made from the best chocolate pie crust recipe, these cookies are filled with an almond-scented cream cheese filling. They are wonderfully simple to make, can be frozen, made in advance, and cut out any shape you want.
Cookies from pie dough
I spent a lot of time looking for the best chocolate pie crust and finally found it. It also makes the best sandwich cookies, one of my childhood favorites!
Like most great recipes, these resulted from leftover dough after making who knows what. I had a brunch coming up and decided to use it and make cookies.
Turns out I also had cream cheese frosting because I always do.
So, leftover pie dough and leftover frosting resulted in these sandwich chocolate cookies that are a staple from now on.
Ingredient list
- Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened.
- Unsalted butter.
- Egg yolk: binds the dough together and adds richness, making it more pliable and easy to handle.
- Powdered sugar: also called confectioners or icing sugar.
- Flour: I use cake or all-purpose flour and have great results with both.
- Salt.
- Vanilla extract.
- Cream cheese: regular, full-fat type is needed for consistency and creaminess.
- Almond extract.
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
The chocolate dough
As mentioned before, these are sandwich cookies made with my favorite chocolate dough. The full recipe with detailed instructions is in this chocolate pie crust post.
So go ahead and make the dough, put it in the refrigerator and you're ready to roll, pun intended.
Rolling the dough
- Cold dough: it is essential so take it out of the refrigerator and let it loose some of its coldness at room temperature until it can be rolled. At first, it will seem too solid, but it will quickly start to lose temperature.
- Floured surfaces: always start with a lightly floured counter or surface. You can always add more flour later. Lightly flour the rolling pin and maybe the top of the dough. Don't overdo it until you start rolling and see how much flour the dough needs. You only want enough not to make it stick.
Top Tip
If the dough starts to soften too much during rolling and cutting, gather it, wrap it in plastic, and return it to the refrigerator or freezer (much faster) for several minutes until it hardens again. Try to have it cold at all times.
- Cookie cutters: use any cookie cutter you want. I use regular round cutters for sandwich cookies, but also flowers and stars if making them without filling. Metal or plastic cutters both work fine. For the chocotorta icebox cake recipe, use a rectangular cutter.
- Thickness: how thick you roll the dough depends on what you want to bake. For filled cookies, I suggest no more than ½ inch. If you want single cookies like the image below, I say up to 1 inch is fine.
This crust is wonderful to work with because the shapes stay formed after baking.
Cream cheese filling
The frosting we all love is what I used to fill these sandwiches.
The truth is that I was trying to recreate a favorite cookie from my childhood and decided to start with some leftover cream cheese frosting I had in the fridge.
A few drops of almond extract and boom! my smile came back as I bit into my childhood memories.
Other fillings you can use are chocolate ganache, peanut butter, or dulce de leche (the thick one used for filling).
Storing
If you store already-filled cookies, they will soften as the days go by as the moisture from the filling seeps into the dough.
- Airtight containers - I like to use metal tins. But any container with an airtight lid will work.
- Freezing - you can freeze the cut cookies before baking. I put the whole baking sheet in the freezer and then bake it directly without thawing.
Related recipes you might like:
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Chocolate Sandwich Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the chocolate cookies:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- pinch salt
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and in small pieces
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ice water , if needed, see Notes below
For the frosting:
- 2.5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar, you might need more
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
For the chocolate cookies:
- In the food processor: put 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, pinch salt and ⅓ cup powdered sugar in the processor's bowl. Pulse to combine.
- Add ½ cup unsalted butter in cubes and pulse a few times to mix. The butter should be the size of peas, roughly.
- Add 1 egg yolk and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract if using, and pulse a few times until it moistens the mixture but be careful not to start making a ball.
- By hand: put 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, pinch salt and ⅓ cup powdered sugar in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Scatter ½ cup unsalted butter cubes on top. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter into the flour until it's the size of peas.
- Add 1 egg yolk and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract if using, and mix with a fork until moistened. The dough will be irregular, as it's harder to incorporate it evenly by hand.
- For both methods: dump the shaggy mass onto a counter or working surface.
- Start bringing it together with your hands. At first, it will appear that it will never bind or come together correctly, but it will. Keep folding it onto itself until you have a solid dough. Only if needed, add ice water , 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together. Don't overwork it.
- Wrap it in a plastic or freezer bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is a crucial step for getting tender and flaky dough that's easily rolled.
For the frosting:
- In a medium bowl, beat 2.5 ounces cream cheese and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add 1 cup powdered sugar in 2 parts and mix until you have a very thick, lump-free filling. Depending on the butter and cream cheese you use, you might need more or less sugar.
- Add ¼ teaspoon almond extract, beat until smooth and keep refrigerated covered, until ready to use.
Assembling the sandwich cookies:
- Take the chocolate dough from the refrigerator until you can roll it. It has to be cold, and it will be tough at first to roll.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter the pan.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the dough about ¼ inch thick. You want thin cookies as they will be filled.
- Cut cookies with your designated cookie cutter and place them on the baking sheets, separated an inch from each other.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until dry and slightly soft. They will harden when they cool.
- Let cool for a few minutes and carefully lift them with a spatula, and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
- Fill one cookie with ½ to 1 teaspoon of cream cheese filling and press another cookie on top to make a sandwich.
- Keep in airtight containers. See Notes below on how to store them.
Sonia says
Oh my goodness these look so amazing! I have never made cookies at home but you have explained it so well that I think I can make them. Adding the Ingredients to my grocery list. Making them this weekend..
Cathleen says
Okay, so these are like the most beautiful cookies I have seen in days!! Bookmarking it to make later 🙂
kim says
Love this recipe! These were super easy and so flavorful. I will definitely be making again!
Angela Allison says
What a fabulous idea! I love how easy these are to make. And totally delicious too!
Michelle says
These cookies look delicious and what a great idea for using up leftover pie crust!
Emily says
I can't say no to chocolate, these sound absolutely delicious!
Andrea Metlika says
I'm in awe that you made these out of the same dough you use as a pie crust. That is totally awesome! Love the cream cheese filling too.
Dannii says
These look super cute. I might make some with my daughter on Sunday.
Mel says
Your chocolate sandwich cookies are perfect! I love almond flavours so they're right up my street
Emily Liao says
These cookies are so delicious! Whipped them up for the family and they loved it.
David Scott Allen says
Sweetened pie crust makes the best sandwich cookies - I think you saw on Instagram that I just did a similar thing. Yours sounds wonderful, especially with the almond in the filling!
Paula Montenegro says
You should try filling them with dulce de leche, the best thing ever! Sandwich cookies are THE answer to leftover pie dough right?