The countdown officially begins.
There’s one recipe I’m looking forward to in particular. Well, one recipe I’m looking forward to YOU trying out in your own kitchen. And I couldn’t wait until September to show it off! Patience? What’s that.
(Want to see all the other chapters and recipe titles in the book? Scroll down for the table of contents!!)
Keebler’s version isn’t really a sandwich, but 2 cookies are always better than 1. Right? Right? So in my copycat variation, I decided to sandwich two buttery cookies around a thick dark chocolate ganache center. With a generous drizzle of dark chocolate on top too. Serious chocolate, I told you!
P.S. Do you like Oreo cookies? Try my homemade Oreos next, for another homemade version of a familiar packaged cookie.
You’ll make sugar cookie dough. My favorite sugar cookies. Half of the dough will be full circles, which are the bottoms of the cookies. (Above.)
Half of the dough will be “donut cookies” which are the tops of the cookies. You want to expose that thick chocolate ganache center! (Below.)
You’ll need a 2-inch round cookie cutter to make every cookie. Then, in half of the cookies, you’ll use a 1-inch round cookie cutter to turn them into donut shaped cookies. I have this set of round cookie cutters.
Don’t forget this! Since there is less surface area on the donut shaped cookies, the cookies take a minute or 2 less in the oven. Just like we do with these caramel hazelnut sandwich cookies and cherry almond linzer cookies, make sure that the whole cookies are baked together and the donut shaped cookies are baked together.
And make sure you pay attention to the bake time. You don’t want to over-bake these cookies. You want them to remain soft and any extra time in the oven will turn them into crunchy sandwiches. Soft soft soft!
Thick chocolate ganache = 2 ingredients. Heavy cream (aka heavy whipping cream, double cream) and pure chocolate. Not chocolate chips! To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream until warm and pour over the chopped chocolate. Use pure chocolate—the 4 ounce bars you buy in the baking aisle. I like Baker’s, Ghirardelli, Nestle Toll House, or Lindt baking bars. You’ll need 6 ounces total—half for the ganache and half for the chocolate drizzle on top.. (But I promise it’s really easy!)
You’ll only need 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream, so you’ll have leftover in the carton. You should definitely make a batch of salted caramel OR any of the many many many recipes using heavy cream on my site. There’s a ton.
Spoon a teeny bit of ganache onto each cookie, then top with a donut shaped cookie.
Give it a drizzle of melted chocolate and that’s it! The ganache and chocolate on top will both set, so these cookies are easy to stack and store safely without smearing chocolate everywhere.
I find these fudge striped cookie sandwiches taste best on day 2. Why? The ganache filling thickens AND slightly softens the cookies, so they completely melt in your mouth. So they’re a wonderful option for making the night before to bring into work, to a party, to a special event, friends/family, or to a giant plate in your kitchen where you don’t have to share with anyone. What?
These delicious striped fudge cookie sandwiches are a nod to the Keebler version and are filled with rich chocolate ganache.