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Close-up of round chocolate sandwich cookies on wire rack
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Chocolate Sandwich Cookies Recipe

Made from the best chocolate pie crust, this chocolate cookie sandwich recipe is easy, can be frozen, cut out in any shape, and filled with different flavors and fillings.
Course Cookies
Cuisine International
Keyword chocolate sandwich cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 15 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

For the chocolate cookies:

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • pinch salt
  • 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.

Notes

Ice water: this recipe doesn't use liquid, and though it might seem like the dough will never come together into a ball, it does. But, if you make it by hand, it might be harder to form into a ball as the butter distributes differently than when using the food processor. You can add ice water by teaspoons at a time (put some ice cubes in a glass, cover it with water, and use the cold water) to help everything bind together. Don't add too much that you end up with wet dough.
Cookie cutters: use any cookie cutter you want. I use regular round cookie cutters for sandwich cookies, but also flowers and stars if making them without filling. Metal or plastic cutters both work fine. For the chocotorta recipe, use a rectangular cutter.
Thickness: how thick you roll the dough depends on what you want to bake. I suggest no more than ½ inch for filled cookies such as these ones. If you want single cookies, I say up to 1 inch is fine.
Airtight containers: I like to use metal tins to store the cookies before being filled. But any container with an airtight lid will work. If you store already-filled cookies, they will soften as the days go by because the moisture from the cream cheese seeps into the dough.
Freezing: you can freeze the cut cookies before baking. I put the whole baking sheet in the freezer and then bake it directly. 
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