Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches and Trying to Eat Healthy

Last week I was invited to one of my first parties of the new year, so I decided to bring a brand new dessert.  A new year brings new outlooks, new resolutions, new diets, new plans, and a whole new you.  The fact that the new year comes immediately following a high-stress, high-calorie holiday only emphasizes everyone's resolve to become more healthy, more productive and more centered.  For me, I am in a constant battle with my unending craving for sweets, so a new year's resolution to eat healthier is not new to me.  The fact that I always seem to want to bake a crowd-pleasing, gut-busting chocolatey dessert like these Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches doesn't help my resolution, but it does put a smile on my face.

Don't get me wrong--I am all for eating healthy, whole foods!  But now and then, I allow myself to indulge.  One day, I may be eating salads all day (yay, me!), and the next I am making a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies (and taste testing the recipe every step of the way!).  One minute I'm preaching the virtues of fruits and vegetables  to my family (seriously, raw fruits and veggies are miracle foods!) and the next minute I am indulging in a half a dark chocolate bar dipped in peanut butter (I swear, this has to be a healthy snack--it's just got to be!).  The battle between healthy eats and chocolatey sweets rages on in my little world, and you, my friends, are the beneficiaries of each and every time the sweets side wins.

This recipe was definitely worth a devastating loss to my healthy eating side.  The chocolate cookie was soft and delicious.  The cookie dough filling  was sweet and delectable.  They were sinfully good!  In fact, you may need to go to confession for the sin of gluttony after eating more than one of these.  I was in love with these cookies from the first bite and I'm sure you will be too!

The only alteration I made to this fabulous recipe from Heat Oven to 350 was to throw in a few more mini chocolate chips.   I couldn't find a 13 ounce container of marshmallow creme at the grocery store, so I bought a 16 ounce container of Marshmallow Fluff and used my kitchen scale to measure out between 12 and 13 ounces.  Luckily, after assembling all the sandwiches, there was some filling left over, and since I can't stand to see sugar go to waste...  yum!  

Anyway, here is a recipe you won't regret making!

Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches
From Heat Oven to 350

Yield: 15 sandwich cookies

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the filling:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 13oz. container of marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (I used closer to 1/2 cup)

Instructions for the Cookies:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Combine the salt, flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda, and gradually stir into creamed mixture. Shape dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and place on a baking sheet.  (Heat Oven to 350 then recommends flattening the dough balls with the bottom of a glass, but I found this step was not necessary.)  Bake 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and the tops are cracked, but still soft. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Instructions for the Filling:

Cream butter until fluffy.  Add sugar and beat well.  Add the flour and beat untill all the flour is incorporated. Add remaining ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth.  It will be fairly thick. 

Instructions for assembling sandwiches:

Scoop about 3 tablespoons of filling onto the bottom of a cooled cookie.  Top with another cookie and EAT!