treats I love (chocolate sandwich cookies).

My mixer has been eyeing me from it's corner of the kitchen for a month now. 

With a little office party looming in the distance, I decided to try it out with these super sweet treats (thanks Martha!). 

Mine aren't heart shaped (good luck finding anything useful and Valentine's Day themed the night before the big day), so circles had to do, but they turned out crisp and sweet and delicious! 

What you need! 

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for parchment
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• cream filling (see below)

What you do!  

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together butter, sugar, and egg. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and stir until a dough forms. Divide dough in half; roll out each half between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment to 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to baking sheets, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Cut out shapes, making sure you have even numbers in each size, rerolling scraps once. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. 

Bake until firm and fragrant, about 8 minutes for 1-inch cookies, 10 minutes for 1 1/2-inch cookies, and 12 minutes for 2-inch cookies, rotating halfway through. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets set on wire racks. Spread filling onto bottom side of half the cookies, and sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently. 

for the cream filling:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (I always ending up using more than this...play around with it until you get the consistency you want!) 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons 2% milk, if needed

Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add sugars, beating until thoroughly combined. Beat in vanilla. If filling is too thick to spread, beat in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until spreadable.

Enjoy! 

love.lauren