I know.
It is at this point that you are probably wondering if I am sticking to my diet. The answer is, “yes.”
“How?” I can hear you wonder.
Well, I do not recommend that you do what I do. But let’s just say, a cookie for lunch ain’t somethin’ I’m new to.
You, of course, could eat some carrots, too.
I won’t.
But you could.
Priorities, peeps.
I recently shared my Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie recipe here. These are very similar. One day, I thought, Hey, Jenni. Why don’t you add all Nutella and skip the peanut butter?
So I did.
Only… While the rest of my family liked the cookies just fine. Well, I thought to myself, Self. These are still needin’ somethin’.
What if you added frosting? Self, what if you made a cookie sandwich and put the frosting in the middle?
Then when someone asks you what you had for lunch, you can say, ‘a sandwich.’ And nobody will be the wiser.
So I did.
If you cannot tell by now, that voice pretty much makes all of the decisions in my life. I am not sure… But, you guys, I think it is coming from my thighs.
The voice is booming. And it’s kinda shaky.
And that is why I am writing this recipe and not doing laundry.
And that is why I had a sandwich for lunch.
And that is why I am happy.
On to the happiness:
Ingredients:
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 stick (1/2 cup) softened salted butter
1 egg
1 and 3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. Milk
2/3 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (I use Nutella)
Caviar from one vanilla bean (if you do not have this, you can use 1/2 more tsp. vanilla extract)
1/2 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 Tbsp. Cold brewed coffee
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup organic brown sugar (organic brown sugar is so much better. I am not part of the organic movement, but I will not buy anything else.)
Ingredients for frosting (you have options here):
1 can of cream cheese or vanilla frosting
Or
Nutella
Or my favorite: I chose to use this recipe for most of my cookies. You will need: 5 Tbsp. Flour, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup butter, 1 cup granulated sugar. It is a surprisingly easy and delicious frosting.
Or
Marshmallow fluff
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Or 325 degrees Convect Bake if you have a convection oven.
Pour the 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a separate bowl and set aside while you work on the following.
In a bowl with a hand mixer or in your bowl on your stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light. Stop mixer and add in your vanilla and vanilla bean caviar. Mix.
Now add Nutella, melted chocolate chips and coffee and mix together until completely incorporated.
Add the milk and mix.
Add the egg and mix until light and fluffy.
Turn mixer to low and add in salt, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix until incorporated.
Add flour and mix.
Turn off mixer. Now take a small ball of cookie dough and roll it on your hands. Drop the ball into the bowl of granulated sugar and gently roll it around.
Place the ball of dough on a baking sheet. Repeat this step until your baking sheet is filled with cookie dough balls evenly spaced apart.
With a fork, make two flat indentations onto each cookie.
With a spoon, scoop up some of the granulated sugar and pour a little sugar over marks left from the fork.
Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10-11 minutes until edges are just a little brown. Do not cook longer. You do not want these overcooked.
Transfer baked cookies to a cooling rack.
Repeat with remaining dough. Turn oven off.
Let the cookies cool.
For these cookies, I opted to make the best frosting to put between them. This version tasted like a homemade Oreo. Frost one backside of a cookie. Place the backside of another cookie against the frosting.
You made a sandwich!
Now eat your lunch!
I also did a pure Nutella Whoopie Pie (the cookie appears lighter because I forgot the melted chocolate chips in this batch. Doh!) by spreading Nutella in between the cookie layers.
Gosh. I love that voice inside my thighs head.
And that voice loves…
Ryan Gosling Sandwiches.
Oh! But what about a Ryan Gosling Sandwich?
Self. You’ve gone too far. Eat your cookie.
P.S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style.
And My Romantic Home.
Ryan Gosling sandwich…nutella sandwich…all sounds perfect to me 😉
Thanks Lyn! I will admit, the first one sounds better! ; )
Have a super weekend!
Jenni
YUM! They look soooo good. I think I’d eat through a batch of these in a day. (Being pregnant makes that okay, right?!)
Thanks!
Ha! Did you ever read the story about how I ate the whole sheet cake all by myself when I was pregnant? If not, here it is: http://gnomelover.com/2013/03/26/happy-birthday-honey/
I think a few whoopie pies would be okay in comparison to that! ; ).
Have a restful weekend!
Jenni
I’d like to order an Olivier Martinez, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Alexander Skarsgard sandwich for lunch today! I need to work out which one is the filling ….hmmmm….let me pause for a while and ponder that….
Have a great weekend! : )
bisous
Suzanne
Thanks Suzanne! I know! I was not greedy enough. I just remembered Matthew McConaughey! How could I forget?! Maybe I need a sandwich for lunch AND dinner! ; )
Have a beautiful weekend!
Jenni
oh my–those look tasty! wow!
Thank you Mark! They were good! : )
Have a lovely weekend!
Jenni
After your last cookie post, I immediately went out at bought Nutella to make them. I have not done so yet. Interestingly though, the jar is over half empty. Hmmmm. Now I MUST buy another jar as I will HAVE to make these ‘sandwiches’ as well! Thanks for the lunch idea. I will probably add the carrots to my lunch box … for appearances sake.
Thanks Brynne! My Nutella keeps disappearing too! It must be some weird epidemic! I actually bought one of those giant tubs of it this week because it was breaking my heart throwing away that little container all of the time. I like the carrots for appearances! I only like cooked carrots, so that is all they would be for me. : )
Have a gorgeous weekend!
Jenni
Genius! I love your justification of cookies as a meal because, technically, the two of them plus frosting equals a sandwich. Sounds reasonable to me! haha In college, my roommate and I would justify ordering pizza by saying that it was the perfect super food. It did, after all, have foods from all food groups. Nothing could be more nutritious than that, right?
<3 Liz
http://www.withwonderandwhimsy.com
Thanks Liz. Seriously, thank you! You just made my life. Yes, a justification for pizza! I love it! It does have all of the food groups. My life is now complete. Well, it will be after I eat some pizza! Yum!
Have sweet dreams!
Jenni
that’s the perfect “sandwich” for lunch! hey, calories are calories, right? this is going on my “to-make-asap-pinterest-board”
Thanks Melodee! I need to make them again ASAP, too. Let me know what you think about lunch! ; )
Have a marvelous weekend!
Jenni
I took a break from studying to check your latest blog post and OMG this looks insanely delicious! I cannot wait to try your recipe (after finals…) and I’ll leave a comment when I do! I’m sure it will be super yummy! Can’t wait (:
Thanks Deniz! Please let me know when you make these! I love them! : ). I hope your studying went really well! : )
Have a happy Sunday!
Jenni
That is the most delicious sandwich I have ever seen! Even better than a Ryan Gosling sandwich! Yummy!
Thanks, Cynthia! I still would prefer a Gosling! ; ) I am making chocolate chip cookies right now!
Have a fantastic night!
Jenni
Those look amazing! I have to stay away from nuts/dairy/gluten right now because of Hugo’s sensitive tummy – I feel great, but man, what I wouldn’t give for a big gooey sandwich:)
Thanks Kristin. I had one child with a sensitive tummy. He still has it and all he can really drink is water. I worry much more about their nutrition than my own. Oh my gosh! If they wanted a cookie for lunch?! Ha! : )
Oregon is the perfect place for yummy organic healthy food. I love visiting there!
Have an awesome week!
Jenni
My girls and I are in love with Nutela! I’d love it if you would share your recipe on this week’s The Yuck Stops Here link party, a linkup of delicious recipes that starts tomorrow (Tuesday, May 6th) and ends Sunday evening at 8pm ET! You can find us at http://mommasangelbaby.com/the-yuck-stops-here-5/. Hope to see you there! HUGS
Thank you! I will check it out!
Have a great Tuesday!
Jenni
Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home
The cookies alone look amazing!
Going to definitely make these this weekend :0)
Thanks so much for sharing,
Suzanne
Thank you Suzanne! Please let me know how you like them! : )
Have a great week!
Jenni