Chocolate Fudge Sammies

Seriously, these are the business!

We brought these chocolate fudge sammies to our son's end of the season baseball party. My husband was carrying the box chock-full of these delicious treats. We walked passed a few boys sitting on the grass while eating their lunch. One young man asked, "What's in the box? " My husband opened the box and showed him. The two boys politely asked if they could have one. My husband obliged and they each took a bite.

We continued on our way, but overheard one of the boys say, "This is like putting a piece of heaven in my mouth." The other boy replied, "Yep, it's like I'm a cannibal eating the angel's wings."

Ok, so I am not sure how comfortable I was with the whole eating angels comment, but there is no denying it's one hell of a compliment.

Let's start with the CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FILLING:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup of vegetable shortening, room temperature

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3/4 cup of cocoa powder

4 cups of powdered sugar

3-5 tablespoons of milk

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, salt and vanilla for about 3 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl,  add the cocoa powder and beat on low speed until incorporated. Stop the mixer occasionally, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add a cup of powdered sugar one at a time, mixing on low speed until until the sugar has been well blended.  Mix in a tablespoon of milk one at a time, until you get a light but stiff consistency. Turn the mixer on medium high and whip the frosting for 1 minute.

Store the buttercream in an airtight container in a refrigerator for up to 1 week.

The CHOCOLATE COOKIES:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups of packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup of vitamin D milk

1/2 cup of  sour cream

1 teaspoon of instant coffee

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

PREPARATION TIP: How well do you really know your oven? Before remodeling my kitchen, I had an oven I had to manually drive, a story for another post. Just know the thing was awful, but it turned out perfect cheesecakes every time. Then I got my dream oven and I ruined about 5 cheesecakes before I realized the adjustments I needed to make. Every oven is different. An oven thermometer is a good tool to have on hand to ensure the oven temperature is correct. When testing a new recipe, check the product sooner than later. You may find cooking times will vary.

I draw circles on the underside of the parchment to help manage the size of each cookie.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar together for 3-4 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter and beat for 1 minute.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk and instant coffee.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and combine on low speed. Pour in 1/2 the milk  mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Continue this process with another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the remaining wet ingredients and end with the rest of the flour mixture. Beat for an additional minute.

Fill a piping bag with the batter. You can get diposable piping bags in any store that sells cake supplies. I buy mine from a website called webstaurantstore.com.

Pipe the batter onto the parchment paper.

Bake 10-15 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the cookie. If it comes out clean, the cookies are done. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pipe frosting onto the underside of one cookie and top with another cookie. You will have 12 very large cookies!