Brownie Sandwich Cookies

Another post brings more exicitig news. But first I must share the back story. As I shared in my last post- I went to NYC for my sister's birthday. Well, while there, my camera broke. It may have been dropped on its lens (but the person will remain anonymous ;) ). So I was camera-less, which was sad becuase it broke at the beginning of our trip and so all the lovely cupcakeries that I visited- had to be photographed with my iPhone :( So if you read my cupcakery reviews- Im sorry for some of the pictures. But when I got back- I went on the search for what new camera I wish to get. I knew I was in the market for a DSLR but, as with most DSLRs they were expensive- so I was a bit hesitant. Long story short...thanks to the hubby- I am now the owner of a Nikon d5100!!! I am so excited! I now have the potential to greatly improve upon my food photography skills and maybe, just maybe, my photography skills in general. However, I do have to admit that that the camera is a bit tricky to work (which Im sure goes along with the territory of no longer having a point and shoot), and I have only now just mastered the basics but I have a lot more to learn! Sometime I do get frustrated but I just need to be patient and do more research.

Along with the cream puffs- I decided to also make some cookies. I was on route to make these peanut butter cookies but the hubster pointed out instead, after scrolling through my Pinterest on my iPad- that I had not made "these"- well when I went to look to see what "these" meant- I saw that he was pointing to "these" brownie sandwich cookies with salted caramel filling- similar to homemade Oreos but with a twist. It looked interesting enough and the hubby was right- I had not made anything like it, so I decided to go for it. Although they looked easier than the cream puffs- they actually turned out to be a bit more difficult, but not so bad.

BROWNIE SANDWICH COOKIES

Adapted from Baker's Royale and Heat Oven to 350

INGREDIENTS

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

COOKIE

1 c. butter

1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar (light)

2 eggs.

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. special dark cocoa powder

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

FILLING

1/2 stick of butter (softened)

3 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. caramel (you can either use store bought caramel sauce or use this recipe, I also provide a recipe for caramel sauce as the base for my caramel buttercream found here)

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Cream together butter and sugars. Then add one egg at a time and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix salt, cocoa powder, flour and baking soda. Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients. Then either scoop 1 inch round balls onto a cookie sheet- making sure to press down slightly to flatten (and bake 8-10 minutes) or (and this is what I did)- spread across cookie sheets and bake for 20 minutes (or unitl toothpick comes out clean). Then allow to cool and use a cookie cutter to cut out small circles. I choose to use small circles so they could be close to "appitizer" size.

For filling- cream together butter, powdered sugar, caramel and salt. Pipe filling onto one cookie and top with another cookie to create sandwich. The filling will melt in warm temperatures, so I kept these in  the refridgerator unitl they needed to be served. On a side note- if you do not like the salty (like the hubster) you may always cut down or completely remove the salt.

Enjoy,

Chika