Birthday Brownie Cookie Sandwiches
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I’m giving you one of my MOST REQUESTED recipes today!
Out of everything that we used to sell at the bakery, this is THE most requested recipe from my customers. We would usually have 3 different flavours of cookie sandwiches in the store every day, with two of the flavours being rotating flavours and then this one being a permananent every day flavour. There’s a reason these were a permanent flavour and theres a reason that so many people miss these and have requested the recipe: they are EPICALLY delicious! The brownie cookies are soft and squidgy and the flavour is elevated with a touch of espresso powder. The middles are filled with silky smooth and not-too-sweet swiss meringue buttercream and milk chocolate ganache, and the whole thing is topped off with rainbow sprinkles for happy vibes. Bonus: they are gluten free!
What do I need to make them?
Here’s your grocery list:
-Icing Sugar
-Cocoa Powder
-Fine Sea Salt
-Egg Whites (the ones from a carton work best here)
-Semisweet chocolate chips
-Rainbow Sprinkles (these are my favourite ones from Sweetapolita! They have the prettiest colours and the best crunch & flavour - you can use my code MILKANDCOOKIESBAKESHOP for 15% off!)
-Unsalted Butter
-Granulated Sugar
-Milk Chocolate (couverture or a good quality chocolate bar)
-Whipping Cream
You will also need a kitchen scale , a stand or handheld mixer, a few bowls, a spatula, a whisk, a couple standard size half baking sheets, parchment paper, a wire baking rack or two , a couple piping bags (the set linked is really nice because they are re-useable and they come with an open star piping tip, which you will need for these sandwiches!), an open star tip (like a Wilton 1M), a small round tip (like an Ateco 501 or a Wilton 12), and a #24 cookie scoop if you want to make perfect uniform cookies.
Here’s how to make them:
You can find the full recipe below but I’ll go over the steps in a little extra detail here.
First, gather all of your tools & ingredients, preheat your oven to 350 F, and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Make your milk chocolate ganache first: If your chocolate is not already in small pieces, chop it up into small pieces and place it in a heatproof bowl. Put your cream in a small pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Pour the cream over your chocolate and let it sit for about 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. If you still have chunks, microwave the mixture for 10 seconds and stir again. Repeat as needed until smooth. Put your ganache in the fridge to set while you make your cookies and buttercream.
Next, make your cookies: grab a large bowl and weigh your icing sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder into it, then whisk those together. Add your egg whites and vanilla andwhisk until smooth. The mixture will be very thick. Add your chocolate chips and stir them in using a silicone spatula.
Scoop the cookies onto your parchment lined baking trays using a #24 cookie scoop. You can just use a spoon if you don’t have a cookie scoop - you want approximately 3 TBSP of batter per cookie. Leave a few inches of space between each cookie. If you are using standard half sized baking sheets (18” x 13”) you should be able to get 12 cookies per sheet (4 x 3) and the recipe should make about 24 cookies (which will make 12 sandwiches).
Bake your cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the tops start to crack and don’t look wet anymore. Remove your trays from the oven and let them cool on wire racks.
While your cookies are baking and cooling, make your buttercream: First, make sure your butter is very soft. I do this by cutting it into small cubes and microwaving it for 10 seconds at a time until it is very soft but not melted.
Make sure the bowl of your stand mixer is very very clean. Give it an extra scrub with really hot soapy water to make sure there is no grease, then place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
Weigh your egg whites, sugar, and salt into your mixer bowl, then place the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water. Whisk your mixture gently until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot to the touch.
Transfer the bowl to your mixer and whip on high speed with the whisk attachment until the bowl is no longer warm when you touch it and the egg white/sugar mixture is thick, white, and fluffy.
Keep the mixer running at high speed and start adding your butter approximately 1 TBSP at a time until you’ve added it all. The buttercream might split after you start adding the butter but it should come back together by the time you’ve finished adding it.
Add your vanilla and keep mixing until the buttercream is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes.
Next, assemble your cookies:
Take your cookies and pair them up, flipping one of each pair upside down.
Scoop some buttercream into a large piping bag with a large open star tip (like a Wilton 1M). You will need about 500g of buttercream total for your sandwiches.
This recipe makes more than you need, so you can store the rest in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for several months. When you want to use it just bring it up to room temperature and mix with the whisk attachment in your mixer until it is soft & shiny again.
Pipe the buttercream onto the upside down cookies in each pair, starting from the outside and making a swirl that ends in the middle of the cookie.
Next, scoop some milk chocolate ganache into a small piping bag with a small round tip (like a Wilton #12 or Ateco 801). Pipe a squiggle of ganache on top of the buttercream on each upside down cookie, then place the second cookie in each pair on top and squish it down very gently so the cookie sticks to the ganache and buttercream.
Enjoy immediately or chill before enjoying to let the buttercream get firm. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or in the freezer in an airtight container for several months.
Ready to bake them?
Birthday Brownie Cookie Sandwiches
Soft, squidgy brownie cookies elevated with a touch of espresso powder are filled with silky smooth and not-too-sweet swiss meringue buttercream and milk chocolate ganache, then they're topped off with rainbow sprinkles for happy vibes. Bonus: they are gluten free!
Ingredients
- 130g Milk Chocolate (couverture or good quality chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces)
- 85g Whipping Cream
- 510g Icing Sugar
- 3g Salt
- 3g Espresso Powder
- 190g Cocoa Powder
- 225g Egg Whites (the ones from a carton work best here)
- 10g Vanilla
- 150g Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Rainbow Sprinkles
- 320g Granulated Sugar
- 235g Egg Whites (fresh or from a carton)
- 1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 10g (2 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 565g Unsalted Butter (softened)
Instructions
- Weigh your milk chocolate into a heatproof container with a lid. Heat your cream in a small pot on the stove just until it starts to boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for 3-5 minutes, then stir until smooth. If there are still lumps, heat in the microwave for 10 second increments, stirring after each one until mixture is smooth and shiny. Put the lid on your container and put the ganache in the fridge to set while you make your cookies.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add icing sugar, salt, espresso powder, & cocoa powder to a bowl and whisk together by hand. Then, add your egg whites and vanilla to the bowl and whisk until smooth. The batter should be very thick.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop with a #24 cookie scoop (or use about 3 TBSP of batter per cookie) onto a parchment lined baking tray, leaving a few inches between each cookie. I do mine 3 x 4 on a standard half-size baking sheet. You should get about 24 cookies. Top your cookies with rainbow sprinkles. Bake at 350 C for 8-10 minutes, until the tops are cracked and don't look wet.
- Let the trays cool completely on top of wire racks.
- First, make sure your butter is very soft. I do this by cutting it into small cubes and microwaving it for 10 seconds at a time until it is very soft but not melted.
- Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Weigh your egg whites, sugar, and salt into your mixer bowl, then place the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water. Whisk your mixture gently until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot to the touch.
- Transfer the bowl to your mixer and whip on high speed with the whisk attachment until the bowl is no longer warm when you touch it and the egg white/sugar mixture is thick, white, and fluffy.
- Keep the mixer running at high speed and start adding your butter approximately 1 TBSP at a time until you’ve added it all. The buttercream might split after you start adding the butter but it should come back together by the time you’ve finished adding it.
- Add your vanilla and keep mixing until the buttercream is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes.
- Take your cooled cookies and pair them up, flipping one of each pair upside down.
- Scoop some buttercream into a large piping bag with a large open star tip.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the upside down cookies in each pair, starting from the outside and making a swirl that ends in the middle of the cookie.
- Next, scoop some milk chocolate ganache into a small piping bag with a small round tip. Pipe a squiggle of ganache on top of the buttercream on each upside down cookie, then place the second cookie in each pair on top and squish it down very gently so the cookie sticks to the ganache and buttercream.
- Store the cookie sandwiches in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for several months. This recipe makes more buttercream than you need, so you can store the rest in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for several months. When you want to use it just bring it up to room temperature and mix with the whisk attachment in your mixer until it is soft & shiny again.
