Cookie Monster Sandwiches

My son refers to these cookies as the “Cookie Monsters” because of their humungo size. I adapted this recipe from the “Good to the Grain:  Baking with Whole-Grain Flours” cookbook by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood.  The pictures in this cookbook are absolutely amazing and make my mouth water just paging through the book.  This cookie is a huge whole-wheat chocolate & nut cookie that is by far my favorite cookie at the moment.  They are salty, nutty, and vanilla-y (yes, I just made that up).  I usually just use whatever nuts and chocolate odds and ends I have in the pantry.  This particular time was dark chocolate and milk chocolate discs with walnut pieces, and they were oh so good!  I also use organic cane sugar that just makes better baked products in my opinion. 

My 9-year-old niece came over for a sleepover, which is always very exciting for my son.  I always make a fun dessert for them to munch on while they’re watching movies, so this time I decided to make ice cream sandwiches with these Cookie Monsters.  They were a huge hit!

Cookie Monsters

Dry Mix:

3 C whole-wheat flour

1-1/2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1-1/2 t kosher salt

Wet Mix:

2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-in pcs

1 C golden brown sugar

1 C organic cane sugar

2 eggs

2 t pure vanilla extract

1 C chocolate pcs

1/2 C nut pcs

Place 2 racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350.  I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper when I’m baking cookies; it just insures no stuck cookies.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment; you’re going to bake both at the same time.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain. 

In a stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on low.  Add eggs one at a time until completely mixed in.  Add vanilla.  Scrape the sides of a bowl throughout this process to make sure everything is getting mixed in. 

Add flour mixture on low very slowly and only mix it until it’s barely incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Over-mixing at this point will give you tough cookies.  Dump the dough out onto a work surface and use your hands to fully incorporate ingredients. 

I usually do 6-8 huge cookies per sheet.  Bake for 16 – 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through.

While the cookies were cooling, I pulled out the ice cream to soften.  When they were cool and ice cream was soft but not melted, I spread ice cream onto the cookies and made sandwiches.  I individually wrap each sandwich with plastic wrap and freeze immediately. 

These cookies are so big that I quartered each sandwich, which was plenty of yumminess for the kiddos.  J