Love and Olive Oil

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream

One for the books, folks. The 1st annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap was a smashing success.

But I’ll be completely honest with you.

I did it all for the cookies.

All the work, all the logistics, all the worry… all worth it. I really want to thank everyone who participated. To everyone who baked cookies, shipped cookies, received cookies, ate cookies… thank you for helping to make this quite possibly the most epic cookie swap, EVER. We even made front page news! Some quick math revealed that over 22,000 cookies were sent around the world as part of this swap! The thought of that many cookies flitting across the country and around the world makes my heart happy. :)

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

I got three boxes myself, including a surprise from my co-organizer. Which made me laugh because it was entirely unplanned, and yet we both decided, independently, to send each other a box of cookies. Great minds think exactly alike, apparently. :) Also making an appearance in my mailbox? Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon Chocolate Ganache (top left) from Tripp and Polvorones (Mexican almond cookies, bottom left) from Suzy of Frosting for Dinner. Thanks guys! Your cookies were (*burp*) very much enjoyed!

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream

The cookies I sent were these delectable sandwich cookies. Although it took me a few tries to get the cookie part right (a sandwich cookie must meet certain, very specific characteristics), from the first bite I knew the flavor combination was a winner. One of my all-time favorite cookies for sure. Chewy dark chocolate cookies with a hint of salt, filled with creamy malted milk chocolate buttercream. Sweet.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Did you make this recipe?

Ingredients:

Cookies:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup dark or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

  • 3 1/2 ounces (1 bar) milk chocolate, chopped
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted, plus more as needed
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more as needed
  • 1 tablespoon malted milk powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, espresso, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until no traces of the dry ingredients remain, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is fully incorporated.
  4. Drop dough by the tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll into smooth 1-inch balls, then flatten slightly with the palm of your hand, forming even 1/2-inch-thick disks. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until cookies are puffed and set. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet (they will deflate slightly), then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. To prepare filling, melt milk chocolate in a microwave or double boiler over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
  6. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add cooled milk chocolate and beat until smooth.
  7. Combine heavy cream and malted milk powder in a small bowl and mix until powder is dissolved. Add to milk chocolate mixture, along with vanilla and salt, and beat until light and fluffy, another 2 to 3 minutes. At this point you may need to add more cream or more powdered sugar as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
  8. To assemble, spread or pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling onto half of the cookies, then top with remaining cookies. Press lightly until filling spreads to edges. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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71 Comments

  1. This was a hoot and I can’t wait until next year!!

    These cookies look divine, and are totally going on the Make It or Bake It list. *drool*

  2. Love the story in the Tennessean! Thank you for all of your hard work to make this happen – it went flawlessly. Or appeared to. :)

  3. The swap was a smashing success! Thank you for executing such a wonderful, fun, and DELICIOUS event. Already looking forward to next year’s :)

  4. Great swap. Thanks to include Italy in it. Looking to tweets and posts the Italian Cookie love is great.
    I’m pround to have contribute to this success.

  5. Thanks so much for hosting this cookies swap – I had a blast getting and giving cookies! So much fun – can’t wait until next year!

  6. Oh no! How did I not spot that? What an idiot :-) Would love to participate if you do it again…will keep my eyes peeled for the next one!

  7. I’m not one for cream filled cookies but these look delectable! I can’t wait to give them a try. Thank you again for hosting such an amazing event!

  8. Thank you again for hosting this wonderful cookieswap!!! You guys are amazing!!

  9. I’ve been following your cookie swap with a mixture of admiration and jealousy…I wish I could have participated! Any chance of including the UK next time round? Your cookies look gorgeous, as do the ones you received in the post. Yum.

  10. They sound and look delicious! Congratulations on such an epically successful holiday cookie swap!

  11. I hope next year I get to participate!

  12. Thank you for your efforts. It was much appreciated.

  13. There is always SO much more work than meets the eye…THANK YOU! Your cookie swap was great fun….thanks to Julie too!

  14. My oh my! I’m going to frame this receipe. This look so amazing. I Love cookies esp. chocolate chip. What a wonderful Christmas gift to us. I’m very interested in your cookie receipes coming even if there is a fee. Let me know. I’m a true follower now!

  15. Hey Lindsay, your cookies are beautiful and I had so much fun last night at the party for all the Nashville Bloggers. The “cookie swap” was a great way to get in the Holiday mood for me and I am sure for many other bloggers. We all tend to get caught up in our work and the hectic-ness of the season and forget to just have fun…which the “swap” was all about….not to mention I love cookies!

  16. Thanks for having this cookie swap! I had so much fun! It’s such a wonderful treat when you get a cookie surprise in the mail! I cannot wait till we do this again next year! Thank you again for all of your hard work, it was so appreciated!

    Your cookies look so delish!!!

  17. I had so much fun. I cannot wait till next year!

  18. Great article that they wrote about you! Kudos!! You’ve been a BUSY gal this year!!

  19. I want those! WANT! I wish I had gotten my act together and participated in the cookie swap, I guess I will just have to make these for myself :)

  20. they look sooooo good! yummy!
    great swap! hope we can participate again next year!

  21. What is the cookie that is pictured at the bottom left in your advertisement of the The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap? It looks so good!

  22. Why buy Oreos every again! These look like they taste like heaven.

  23. I love the malted flavor and never make things enough with it – very nice!

  24. These look absolutely wonderful and great presentation in the cute little box, too!

  25. Amazing cookies Lindsay! they look so soft and just prefect!

  26. These cookies were delish. Again, thank you, thank you! It’s been so fun and I’m so lucky that you’re my friend. :D

  27. I love the boxes you used Lindsay! Those are perfect! And these cookies, oh man! They sound delicious!

  28. Thanks for organizing the swap, Lindsay. I think it was a great success and I loved meeting so many new bloggers. Thanks for all your (and Julie’s) hard work!

  29. mmmm!!!! i love these cookies! and the packaging!

  30. These cookies look amazing and I love the packaging! Thank you again for organizing such an amazing cookie swap!!

  31. A huge [muah!] to our organizers – I think it went incredibly smoothly, considering there were 620+ crazy bakers involved! Can’t wait until next year!

  32. These look faaaantastic. Thank you so much to you and Julie for hosting the cookie swap!! It was so much fun–I can’t wait until next year’s. :)

  33. These cookie sammies look scrumptious! thanks again for organizing such a great and successful event, i look forward to next year!

    happy holidays!
    *Allie*

  34. Well, thanks. I hadn’t thought to look there, but now I’ll know! :-D

  35. I have a hard time finding malted milk powder. Any suggestions as to where I should look?

  36. Thank you for not only organizing such a spectacular Cookie Swap, but for providing inspiration for my next round of holiday baking!

  37. I’m in love with your cookies, thanks for the recipe and even more for the hard work you and Julie did for all of us to meet and enjoy each others cookies. It was an amazing experience. Thanks!

  38. Aw your cookies were so cutely wrapped! I put mine in little festive buckets in printed clear treat bags.

    Oh I was wondering, I got one batch of cookies from a Stacey, but I don’t think I know a single food blogger named Stacey. Could you direct me to who to thank for the delicious cookies she sent me? I feel terrible not knowing who she is :-(

  39. I’m feeling pretty bad about my little Tupperwares right now! Such beautiful packaging and cookies! This was a ton of fun, though. :)

  40. Oh those look like heaven.

  41. These look amazing. Where did you get that adorable box???

  42. What wonderful looking cookies. Thanks to you and Julie for putting this together. As a new blogger I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet new people and to participate in something so very epic.
    I am already looking forward to next year.
    Thanks so much for all the work you put into the swap!

  43. Lindsay – your cookies are simply stunning! Malted anything is on the top of my favorites and I need to make these over the holidays. Thank you again for organizing this fun and amazing food blogging event. Hats off to you and Julie – you did a brilliant job! It was a lot of fun participating!! Happy Holidays!!!

  44. These are absolutely beautiful!

  45. These look absolutely delicious, what a fabulous recipe!!! Thanks again for hosting this amazing cookie exchange, it was so much fun! xoxo

  46. All the cookies in this look absolutely amazing! :) And thank you so much for organizing this swap, I had a blast!

  47. Lindsay they look so beautiful! The cookies, and how you wrapped them, just gorgeous!

    Congrats on the paper and on the EPIC job you did in organizing it. I truly cannot even imagine the details you went thru to do this..wow. If I wasnt traveling this month, I would have done it..but clearly you had plenty of participation. I only wish I coulda cookie sampled.

    CONGRATS!

  48. OMG!!!! Congrats Lindsey on making the local paper! I don’t know how you find the time for it all. Great swap everyone! cannot wait until next year! I will definately be making these chocolate sandwich cookies!

  49. These look so YUMMY!

  50. Wow, those look charming! I bet they tasted great too. And aren’t those cookies boxes great? I used the pocketed box as well. Fit my cookies perfectly and provided a lot of stability to the box. Except mine were just white and not as cute as yours!

    Thank you for your time & effort organizing the swap. It was a blast!

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