Cinnamon Cream Sandwich Cookies
Most kids grow up on homemade chocolate chip cookies and Oreos. And maybe Nutter Butters, or Milanos, or even Golden Oreos. So if we had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as kids, why didn’t we ever have homemade sandwich cookies too? Probably because the adults in our lives thought it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. Well these are worth it! It doesn’t get much better than these delicious vanilla sandwich cookies filled with a creamy cinnamon custard filling. They’re easy to throw together and better than anything you ever consumed out of a package!
The cookie dough is reminiscent of a simple sugar cookie recipe. Roll the dough out, cut out little shapes, and bake until golden brown and a tad crispy. The cookies are sturdy enough to hold up to a filling but still delicious by themselves, too. The cookies alone would be heavenly dipped in a cup of coffee.
For these cookies, I used pure vanilla extract I bought in Jamaica over Spring Break. This stuff smells amazing. It provided that strong vanilla flavor of store-bought cookies without whatever crazy chemicals the big brands probably use. And the filling… the filling is definitely not something you can find at Walmart. Look at all these simple, wholesome ingredients:
Eggs, sugar, half-and-half, a little flour to thicken it up, and butter, vanilla, and cinnamon for flavor. You might be thinking “This looks like a custard! I can’t make custard!” Yes you can. Just cook and stir. That’s it.
Then get to piping it on those aromatic, toasty homemade cookies. You don’t need a pastry bag to pipe- just use a Ziplock!
Dust with powdered sugar mixed with a touch of cinnamon and you’re done.
You can find the old cookbook that inspired the recipe and the recipe itself below!
I’m in love with my newest old cookbook (haha) that supplied this recipe. I acquired itin Mineola, Texas. It’s cookie section begins with the fabulous illustration and rhyme on the left. With a cookbook titled Foods for Favorite Folks, how could you go wrong? It was compiled by WOFSY: The Women’s Organization for Serving Youth. It’s an organization “organized in the summer of 1964 for the purpose of uniting the women of South Georgia and North Florida in a genuine, worthwhile fellowship… working for the young people of our time.” It’s little churches and women’s groups like this that put together the best cookbooks.
Cinnamon Cream Sandwich Cookies
Makes: 24 sandwich cookies, Time: 40 mins prep, 8–10 minutes baking
Ingredients:
For the cookies: 1 3/4 c flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt (heaping), 1/2 c shortening, 3/4 c sugar, 1 egg beaten, 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the custard: 2 eggs, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 cup half and half or whole milk, 2 tsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg to taste, pinch of salt, 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a cookie sheet with non-stick baking spray or line with a Silpat baking mat. Set aside.
2. Cream together shortening and sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients gradually and stir until fully incorporated and a strong dough forms.
4. (Optional: If the cookie dough is warm or very sticky, form it into a flat disk and refrigerate for 10–20 minutes.)
5. Lightly flour a clean work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, or a tad thicker. Use a round cookie cutter about 1-inch in diameter (or another small cookie cutter) to cut out the cookies.
6. Bake cookies on prepared cookie sheet for 8–10 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.
7. While the cookies are baking, make the filling. In a small saucepan, beat together the sugar, eggs, and half-and-half. Place over medium heat and stir constantly. Add flour and spices and continue whisking as the mixture heats and thickens. When it is about the consistency of a thin custard, remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a bowl to cool. It will thicken.
8. Once the cookies and filling have cooled, spoon the filling into a large plastic bag. Cut off the corner and pipe about 1 tsp-1tbsp of the filling onto a cookie. Top with another cookie and you’re good to go!
9. Dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon for a pretty finish.
Straight out of the oven, the cookies are perfectly crunchy and the cinnamon filling a perfect complement. By the next morning, the flavors will meld together even more and you’ll experience the best bite of creamy vanilla cookie you’ve ever had. If I’ve learned anything in my almost 17 months of blogging about old-fashioned food, it’s that
homemade is worth the time.
And in the case of these cookies, homemade takes practically no time at all.
