Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookies
Chocolate stuffed sandwich cookies made with a poppy-flecked brown sugar dough, lots of vanilla, and a bit of a salty sweet crust on top.
Sandwich cookies need to be worth the effort. They involve multiple steps and components. There is often rolling and stamping and re-rolling involved. On top of that, usually they should look matchy-matchy, each cookie the same as the next. So yeah, there is effort and precision involved in achieving that. These are worth the fuss. A poppy-flecked, brown sugar dough has a mellow, full sweetness. The butter in the dough browns just enough in the oven to be fragrant, melding vanilla and sugar notes. Chocolate functions as binding bridge between two wafer-thin coins. They’re wonderful and worth it.
Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookies: Tips & tricks
Here's what you're going for. Thin cookies, thin smear of chocolate. Crisp and snappy. There's nothing complcated about making these cookies, but there are a few tricks to making these cookies extra good. Listen up.
Make it thin: The first tip is simple - roll the cookie dough out very, very thin. Not parchment thin, but certainly Saltine cracker thin. The resulting cookies will be crisp, elegant, and lovely to look at. Like the photo below.
Restraint: Resist going overboard with the chocolate. You want just a bit of chocolate sandwiched between just a bit of cookie. Have a look at the photo below. Too much cookie and the ratio gets thrown off. 
Bake it right: The last important thing to be mindful of is baking time. You want these cookies to bake until they are beautifully golden, particularly on the bottom edges where the cookies meet the baking sheet. This will give you snap and structure once the cookies have cooled. Don't turn your back while they’re baking, cookies this thin will go from blond to burned in a heartbeat. Go for golden!
More cookie recipe:
- Saffron Vanilla Snickerdoodles
- David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Triple Ginger Cookies
- Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
- all cookie recipes
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Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookie
Feel free to substitute unbleached all-purpose flour here, spelt flour might work as well although I haven't tested it in this recipe. I also think these cookies might be great with some sort of spice infusion, but haven't played around with that angle yet either.
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- scant 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon big flaky sea salt (optional)
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)
- 6-7 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
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Preheat oven to 350°F - rack in the top 1/3 of the oven.
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In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside. In a separate bowl, either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is fluffy and creamy. Add the sugar and mix some more, scraping the sides of the bowl once along the way. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla extract, scraping the sides again if needed. Being careful not to over-mix, stir in the flour mixture by hand. If the dough is on the dry side stir in the milk as well. Turn the dough out onto the counter-top, knead it once or twice (just so it comes together) and form one large ball. Cut the dough into four quarters, then shape each piece into a ball. Flatten each of the four balls into 1/2-inch thick pancakes, and wrap each piece individually in plastic before chilling in the refrigerator for at least a half an hour.
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Roll out the dough thin as can be on a lightly floured surface - wafer thin, about 1/8-inch, and stamp out using the cookie cutter. Arrange cookies 1-inch apart on prepared baking sheets before sprinkling with a small pinch of salt and sugar. Bake for about seven minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet or until the cookie edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.
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When you are ready to assemble the cookies, place the chocolate in a double boiler (or a bowl placed over a bit of simmering water) to melt. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the center of the flat side of one cookie. Top with another cookie - matching flat side to flat side. Repeat with the remaining cookies, setting them aside to let the chocolate set.
Makes 2 dozen 1 1/2-inch sandwich cookies.
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Saffron Vanilla Snickerdoodles
So good! Saffron Vanilla Snickerdoodles with a slight buckle in the middle, kiss of saffron, and thin golden crust with a fudge-textured center. The Blue Bottle Coffee version.
David Lebovitz’s Great Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you like a serious chocolate chip cookie with classic vibes, this is the recipe. A high chip to dough ratio guarantees lots of chocolate in every bite. Toasted walnuts add crunch, density and a delicious flavor to the overall mix. So good!
Triple Ginger Cookies
These are the ginger cookies you want to make. A special triple ginger cookie made with three kinds of ginger and a hit of lemon zest. Cracked and sugar-crusted on the outside, dense and moist within.
Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
From The Miller's Daughter cookbook, these chocolate-flecked cookies are made with chickpea flour, tahini, and brown sugar for a brilliant twist on peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. The texture is crisp at the edges and soft-centered with oozy puddles of chocolate throughout.
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Comments
I'm not normally a huge fan of poppy seeds, however the idea of combining them with chocolate just might change my mind. I can't wait to give these a try! Thanks for the great post & pictures.
Beautiful! I'm definitely giving these a try, but replacing the poppyseeds with crushed earl gray tea leaves. HS: That sounds great. Let me know how it goes!
It's like cookies all grown up. I love your recipes because they show that using natural ingredients doesn't just mean granola or hippie food! These look absolutely beautiful and I'd love to try them with some kind of chili spices. HS: Thanks Michelle!
I'm going to try these with a little anise extract. Yum!
These are so cute! I love the addition of poppy seeds - seems unexpected but intriguing at the same time.
They look adorable, you really have a flare for presentation.
They look so professional...
I signed up for the e-mails just a few days ago. I'm glad I did. I have clicked on a few of the intriguing recipes listed in the column on the left, and I am impressed with their creativity, healthiness, and simplicity. Many thanks. HS: Thanks for the note - I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the recipes!
yum. any thoughts on whether i'd be ok using soy milk in these? i'm not vegan but prefer soy milk to cow's milk, so it's just what i usually have on hand. i'm never sure about substituting it when baking, though... HS: No problem Rachel - in this case you'd be fine.
So cute..I can't wait to try these! I love the thinness of the chocolate and cookie! Thanks!
They look good. I think they would be good minus the chocolate, spread some peanut butter and strawberry freezer jam on them.
These look delish! Any idea of how I can make these without eggs? Can I just omit the eggs completely?
These look so cute! i'm going for my abandoned cookie cutters tonight and make my office buddies a batch. What a great way to start a long weekend. Thank you! I hope i roll the dough right. maybe i should go get those rubberband things for my rolling pin.
A great recipe when do you get time to sleep. Regards from the U K.
They look delish- but one tablespoon of vanilla? Sounds like a lot, usually a teaspoon is called for, no? HS: I used a tablespoon this time around :)
These are lovely! I'm going to try them this weekend. One question, though -- could I use milk chocolate? I'm not a dark chocolate person, but perhaps milk chocolate would make it too sweet? HS: No, go for it - whatever type of chocolate you like. I bet some shaved chocolate in the dough would be nice too - but not chunks though (would make it challenging to roll out thin)...
Heidi these look amazing. I bet a little cayenne in the chocolate would add something special too.
Mmmm...I want one right now! Can't wait to make them.
these reminds me of cookies from this french bakery (in paris and london) called Poilaine. delish!!
yummy, sea salt,chocolate and brown sugar!! Can't wait to make these!!