One of my favorite bloggers and dear blogger friend, Annie from Annie’s Eats is expecting her second baby in just a few months! I’m so incredibly excited for her and can’t wait to “meet” sweet Caroline! Annie’s Virtual Baby Shower came up just at the right time since I have been absolutely dying to make these chocolate malt sandwich cookies and I knew they would be the perfect addition to an appetizer and dessert shower. I knew our host, Courtney, would be making a cake for the shower so I figured a big plate of chocolaty cookies would be go over well…and I knew that Annie would love them since she’s a huge fan of chocolate desserts and sandwich cookies of all kinds.
These chocolate malt sandwich cookies are simple as anything to put together. You make your chocolate malt cookie dough, bake the cookies, and let them cool. Meanwhile, you whip up some chocolate malt filling, chill it for 30 min, whip it up, and fill your cookies. And you’re done! Even better than how simple they are, these are quite possibly the best cookies I’ve ever eaten. And this isn’t just my opinion. The weekend I made them, I had my cousins up for a visit and when two teenagers tell you this was the best cookie they had EVER eaten, you know you’ve got a good thing going. My cousin, Mariah, had been waiting for over a year to make them with me since we first came across the recipe and these cookies fully lived up to every expectation. As expected, they are fantastically chocolaty but the malted milk powder adds an extra layer of depth and flavor to the chocolate that you don’t expect by just looking at them. Not surprisingly, these sandwich cookies went fast. So fast that we made a second batch the following day just so Mariah could take a few of them back to school with her in Providence. I hope they survived the car trip!
With a long list of fabulous food bloggers attending, you can imagine this shower as one filled with amazing food and great friends, some of whom I’ve been following for years and some of whom you’ve probably been following for years as well! Please be sure to check out Cook Like a Champion and Annie’s Eats for a round-up of this very special baby shower and do yourself a favor by visiting all of the blogs for the recipes and photos – you won’t be at all sorry!
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Chocolate-Malt Sandwich Cookies
source: adapted from Martha Stewart, Cookies
Yields: 18-20 sandwiches
As with most of the specialty baking items I need, my go-to store is King Arthur Flour and that’s where I purchased the malted milk powder from. If you’re in a pinch and can’t wait a few days for it to be shipped, you can use Ovaltine but you should know that Ovaltine contains cocoa whereas regular malted milk powder does not.
For the cookies:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup plain malted milk powder (see note)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons hot water
For the filling:
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup plain malted milk powder
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Sift together flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, vanilla extract, sour cream, and hot water. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture.Space tablespoon-size balls of dough 3 1/2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake until flat and just firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.To make the filling:
While the cookies are baking, melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simming water, stirring. Let cool. With an electric mixer, beat malted milk powder and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Gradually mix in half-and-half, chocolate mixture, and vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until thick, about 30 minutes. Beat on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. After chilling, the filling will be very thick and dark but as soon as you start to beat it, the color will begin to lighten and the filling will become very fluffy.
To assemble the cookies:
Match up cookies of similar sizes into pairs. Using a tablespoon-size cookie scoop, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie until the filling pushes to the edges of the cookies. Repeat with remaining pairs of cookies. Cookies can be kept at room temperature between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days. (Though it’s doubtful they will last this long!)[/print_this]
Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies for Annie’s Virtual Baby Shower
- Prep Time: cookies: 15min | filling: 20min (active) + 30min (inactive) for chilling
- Cook Time: 10-12min
- Yield: 18-20 sandwiches
Ingredients
For the cookies:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
¼ cup plain malted milk powder (see note below)
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
3 tbsp hot water
For the filling:
10 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup plain malted milk powder
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
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01
To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350° F. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, sour cream, and hot water. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture. Space tablespoon-size balls of dough 3 ½ inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
-
02
Bake until flat and just firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.
-
03
To make the filling: While the cookies are baking, melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Let cool. With an electric mixer, beat malted milk powder and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Gradually mix in half-and-half, chocolate mixture, and vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until thick, about 30 minutes. Beat on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. After chilling, the filling will be very thick and dark but as soon as you start to beat it, the color will begin to lighten and the filling will become very fluffy.
-
04
To assemble the cookies: Match up cookies of similar sizes into pairs. Using a tablespoon-size cookie scoop, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of one cookie. Sandwich with another cookie until the filling pushes to the edges of the cookies. Repeat with remaining pairs of cookies.
Cookies can be kept at room temperature between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days. (Though it’s doubtful they will last this long!)
-
05
Note: As with most of the specialty baking items I need, my go-to store is King Arthur Flour and that’s where I purchased the malted milk powder from. If you’re in a pinch and can’t wait a few days for it to be shipped, you can use Ovaltine but you should know that Ovaltine contains cocoa whereas regular malted milk powder does not.
adapted from Martha Stewart, Cookies
These look delicious! And you can’t go wrong with chocolate for a baby shower!
Gorgeous, delicious and I LOVE anything malted. Perfect!
Tara, these look so delicious! I’m pretty sure Eric gasped when I showed him the picture last night. 🙂 Thank you so much for participating in the virtual shower!
These cookies look too good! I am also a sucker for cookie sandwiches:-)
Ever since you sent out the picture of these, I have been drooling. Seriously, I’m making these ASAP!
Holy smokes! Those pictures don’t need any words-what incredible shots! I love the way these cookies look-I can only imagine what they taste like. Now I am really wishing we had all done this in person-my stomach is growling.
Shanon 🙂
I wish I would have known about these before I just dumped the malted milk powder that’s been in my cabinet too long. Haha. These look absolutely delicious, Tara. I’m bookmarking them for sure.
Wow these look good. I must acquire malted milk powder so I can try them out.
this baby boy in my belly doesn’t like chocolate… clearly he is not my child. but as soon as he comes out and i resume my love of chocolate i’m soooooooo making these!! i love malt! (and chocolate under normal circumstances! lol). fantastic choice for the shower!
Your photo is making me drool. YUM.
I’m making chocolate malt cupcakes next week for a Valentine’s party. I might just have to make these now, too! Seriously, Ben would love these in his lunch and, more importantly, I would love them on my counter, ready for me to chow down! It was fun “partying” with you! 🙂
Tara, thanks so much for making these amazing cookies as part of my virtual shower. It means so much that you took the time to participate, and you know me well enough to know just how much I love these cookies already. I cannot wait to try them myself! Caroline thanks you in advance 🙂
Oh yumminess! What a perfect treat for a mama-to-be!
Oooo, chocolate cookies filled with chocolate… Looks SO good.
These look amazing! I actually have malted milk powder. I found it at wegmans, but I had to ask where it was, because it wasn’t where I thought it would be. I can’t wait to make these!
Wow, Tara- not only are those pictures amazing, these cookies look seriously delicious! I SO want one right now!! I bet Annie would love these! I’ve had such a fun time participating in this shower with you- such a fun experience! 🙂
These sound heavenly! I’ve never had a malt cookie sandwich before, I need to try these out!
I love malted everything! These cookies look and sound amazing, nice recipe!
Delicious looking recipe! I’ve never heard of malted milk power; must add a unique flavor.
I’m going to make these as a Thank You for someone at work. They look to-die-for. I’m sure they’re wonderful. I can’t wait to make (and try!) them tonight.
If all baby showers included cookies these gorgeous (and chocolatey), I’d probably be more inclined to have kids! 🙂
But seriously, I’m in the middle of planning a shower for a coworker who’s due in a few weeks and wanted to make some special snacks to celebrate, so this post is perfectly timed. Can’t wait to give these a try!
Oooh, these definitely look like the best cookie ever. And the gorgeous photos don’t hurt, either. 😉
These are going on the short list of recipes I have to try. Love your blog!
These look fantastic. For malted milk powder, I use Carnation – easy to find in most supermarkets:
http://www.amazon.com/Carnation-Malted-Milk-Original-13-Ounce/dp/B001EQ4HVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1296686579&sr=1-1
I love the look of your cookies. I could grab one through the screen. Your pictures look fantastic.
These cookies look awesome! Thanks for sharing the recipe – You’re so right about having a hrad time findng malt milk powder in any stores – becuz I’ve looked! I think I will have to use Ovaltime though…
Happy baking!
LeeYong
These look amazing, but I have to ask . . . are the cookies soft? I sure hope so (;
Oh yes, they are definitely soft. There’s nothing I can’t stand more than a hard sandwich cookie where the filling shoots out when you bite into it. 🙂
that settles it then, I’m making these for Superbowl Sunday!!
I’m addicted to cookies and yours look so good!
Oh my wow, those cookies are incredible! Your photos are also amazing.
I think these cookies would be great for any occasion, especially for such chocolate addicts as me 🙂
Oh man, my cookies came out flat and crisp. Bummer. I followed the recipe to a T and baked for 10 minutes. Maybe I should have chilled the dough too… The filling is fantastic, perhaps they will soften up as they sit with the filling.
All I can say is, “YUM!” Beautiful blog. I’m so glad you made the top nine, I would not have found it. Congrats!
Congtats on the Top 9 today. I’ve never been to a virtual baby shower. Your cookies looks so good.
Those look absolutely divine! Gosh, they would go great with a big glass of milk or a big glass of Bailey’s or Kahlua, in my opinion! :-p Yum!
Excellent pic! I have been looking for a great chocolate biscuit recipe. I’m definitely going to try this. Yum. x
These look like heaven. Honestly, they are absolutely PERFECT. Congrats on the top 9!
Your photo is just amazing! I want to reach out and grab one of these chocolaty guys and not share it with anyone. Congrats to the Mom-to-be!
The chocolate malt sandwiches look so amazing! I can see a lot of baking this weekend, but I’m certainly okay with that.
Ohhh I am so craving chocolate now. That looks so good.
These look too good to be true!! I love sandwich cookies, and these look so creamy and delicious. mmm!
Congrats on Top 9 featuring! Cookies look amazing, thank you for sharing 🙂
The use of chocolate malt in this cookie must give it such a fragrant smell. When we were kids, we like to dip our spoon into chocolate malt power and just eat them plain. Never thought to incorporate it into the cookie dough! Thanks for sharing!! Julie
Beautiful! I adore anything with malt. These are a must make!! 🙂
Try Horlicks if people can get that instead. When I lived in the States, there’s a lot available you don’t think is there if you knew the brand name and could guess which bonkers aisle it was stocked in.
I made these last week and sent about 30 of them with my Husband to work. His coworkers RAVED about them. A few different people said “your wife should open a bakery” I got an email from one of his coworkers thanking me, another coworker email him to forward to me how much she enjoyed them. The compliments went on and on and on. Sadly, it’s not like I made these up myself, I followed this fantastic recipe! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I’m definitely going to be making these again 🙂
These look delish, I loooove chocolate malt anything! I can’t wait to give these a try 😀
By the way, I’m not sure if it’s a regional thing, but there is Ovaltine Malted Milk Powder where I am (Washington State) , found typically with the chocolate malt version by the Hot Cocoa/Chocolate Milk mixes.
I found this blog post and recipe the other day via Tastespotting! I have been dreming of making them since! Finally this afternoon (…like right now) I am making these beauties and they are awesome!! Thankyou for sharing, wonderful blog too! =)
Not that I don’t love KAF but Carnation makes Maled Milk powder. I found it at Walmart in the tea/coffee asile.
Lynn: Thanks for your suggestion! I had read a couple of other comments here that Carnation makes it and am pretty sure that most grocery stores would carry it as well. Looks like I might have an easier way to restock after I run out of the KAF stuff!
Thanks for posting this recipe! Do you have any thoughts as to whether subbing Ovaltine for plain malted milk powder would require reducing the amount of cocoa powder, or would it just be a 1:1 substitution?
Mindy: Admittedly, I’m not familiar with how much cocoa is in Ovaltine since I’ve never used it before but I can’t really see how a little extra cocoa would harm the recipe. I think a 1:1 substitution would be ok but use your best judgment – if the Ovaltine is really chocolaty, cut the cocoa back by a couple of teaspoons. Let me know how the Ovaltine works out for you in this recipe!
Just a note: if you change the ingredients – please change the directions to match. It’s really confusing to see half and half and creme fraiche with hot water when they aren’t listed in the ingredient list….
Thanks for the head’s up, Bonnie. It was my mistake to not change the creme fraiche to sour cream in the instructions (and I’ll change it accordingly in a moment) but as you will see, the half-and-half is listed under the filling ingredients.
I love sandwich cookies too! we use to have a cookie co. in our city that made really good ones, but they have closed. I will def be trying these!
No surprise you have sooo many comments on this Chocolate Malt Sandwich Cookies recipe. They are the most tempting looking cookies I’ve ever seen! Congratulations!!!
These cookies look amazing and thanks for the tip on ovaltine. Although I always have the best intentions when it comes to planning ahead for a recipe and order what I need to online, it just doesn’t always work out that way. Also, I’m not sure if its available in many stores, but Ovaltine makes something called “Malt Ovaltine” which doesn’t contain any cocoa. Happy Baking!
What a delicious recipe! These are going on my to make list.
These look so good! What an awesome idea too.
I have been making these cookies for years, thanks to you! They are fabulous and everyone always loves them. Thanks so much for sharing this gem of a recipe!!
Hi Nat! It means so much to me that you’ve come back after making these cookies for so long to tell me this! I’m so thrilled that you love them! Thank YOU for your feedback! Happy holidays!
Very delicious cookies.
You need to know the while your recipe calls for 2 tsp vanilla for the cookies, there is no point in the directions which instruct us to add the vanilla.
Hi Donna, Thanks for catching that! The vanilla goes in with the egg and sour cream. I just updated the recipe to reflect this. So glad you loved these cookies!