Sandwich Cookies...One Retro, One Contempo!

Ok, first I feel the need to explain my last post ! Our local newspaper was having a Julie/Julia contest, which, for some crazy insane reason, I felt driven to enter!! Like I don't have enough to do! We had to choose a recipe from one of her first 4 cookbooks , make it and submit it in a blog form, so I chose the gnocchi. Anyway, needless to say, my entry was either disqualified( I am not technically an amateur cook, as the rules stated, but I do "make a living" as a baker...I guess you could call it"a living"!! I mean, cook and baker are 2 different things, aren't they?? Or they just plain hated my recipe choice! Well anyhoo, I did it and I'm proud of the results...but I'd never ever make it again. Ok, enough explaining! Oh yes, one more thing...because I haven't posted anything for a while, I thought I'd include 2 recipes today. You know, kind of making up for lost time!!

So on to the cookies...
I was in my local library quite a few months ago, maybe even close to a year ago by now and I was looking through the magazines when I came upon a magazine entitled " Hallmark". I'd never heard of it,( which doesn't mean much as it's probably been around for years) and they were featuring cookie recipes that some readers remembered growing up. This one for a cookie called " Double Crunchers" looked very good so I photo copied the recipe, went home and made it. I decided, for whatever reason then, to swap out the chocolate filling for Nutella and this cookie became one of my favorites...along with everyone else who tried them!! Nutella is soo good!! I love the flavor of hazelnut and chocolate together and it just works so well in this cookie.
I searched everywhere in my recipe file for the original photo copied recipe from that day and...do you think I could find it?? NO!! So as I was looking through a 12th Grand National Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook I had in my piles of cookbooks, there is was! And, here it is !!

Double Crunchers with Nutella Filling

This next sandwich cookie recipe is from an older issue ( June 2006) issue of Martha Stewart's Magazine ( my thrift shops come through again!) This recipe is entitled " Lemon-Apricot Sandwiches". I should always remember that any shortbread cookie made with cornstarch or powdered sugar is going to come out much softer and way more crumbly than a shortbread cookie made with white granulated sugar. This one was no exception!! I just didn't like the softness of it. The flavor was nice but I thought the apricot jam overpowered the lemon flavor in the cookie. Biting into it, it all fell apart. This one didn't make me happy!! But give it a try...maybe you like a soft shortbread cookie?!

Lemon-Apricot Sandwich Cookie

Double Crunchers with Nutella Filling

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift: 1 cup AP flour, 1/2 tsp. soda, 1/4 tsp. salt. Set aside.

Mix in mixer with paddle attachment: 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar( I used light), 1/2 cup sugar,1/2 cup shortening. ( yeah I know!). Cream well.

Blend in: 1 egg , 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Mix well.

Add dry and mix thoroughly. Stir in 1 cup corn flakes, crushed( 1 cup measured before crushing).. 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats, 1/2 cup coconut.

Shape into balls. Place on greased cookie sheets( I experimented with one greased sheet and one sheet w/ parchment paper. The parchment worked out much better.) Flatten each cookie with fingers to about 3/8" thick.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes. (Mine took a few minutes longer).

When cooled, spread one cookie with filling and top with another cookie.