(Vegan)

Imagine the baked crisped edges of a pan of brownies but the middles soft, chewy, and downright fudgy, and those are the textures of the brownie sandwich cookies below. To cut the sweetness and chocolate, they’re frosted with a non dairy cream cheese frosting that’s tangy, just sweet enough, and all about the figs.

Brownie Sandwich Cookie 101

We teamed up with Valley Fig on this recipe, featuring their delicious figs alongside our gluten-free, dairy-free brownie mix in a different way… a brownie sandwich cookie that celebrates the textures you love in a brownie but here as a decadent riff on a chocolate cookie sandwich. The method to make the brownie cookies is straightforward, a little bit of waiting time the only hard part.

To make the brownie cookies, you will stir together the brownie mix with oil and less hot water than the packaging suggests, noted in the recipe below. The batter will be fairly easy to scoop out and for the process, we like to use a 1 1/2 tablespoon ice cream scoop though you could make them smaller and use a tablespoon measuring spoon plus a bit extra, portioning out 16 cookie dough balls. The waiting time comes next—it helps for the dough to firm up a bit to get the ripples in the cookies. Firming them up in the freezer for 30 minutes gives you found time to preheat the oven and to make the figgy non dairy cream cheese frosting.

How to Make Figgy Non Dairy Cream Cheese Frosting

The first place to start is to remove the stems off Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Dried Figs—for the frosting, we like a mix of Mission Figs and Golden Figs both for their color and flavor contrasts to the creaminess of the frosting and seeds that sparkle with just the right amount of crunch. Then, finely chop the figs. Set them aside.

Beat the vegan butter until it’s starting to become fluffy, lining the walls of your bowl. Add in the vegan cream cheese, beating to combine. Then, with the mixer turned off, add in all of the powdered sugar, beginning to mix it on low for a few beats until it’s not quite so powdery on top and then switching the speed to medium to beat the frosting for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract. Fold in the finely chopped figs. Set aside the frosting.

Single Serve or Sandwich-Style

Bake the cookies for 23 minutes and then gently tap the sheet pan on the counter, leaving the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes to firm up before transferring them to cool completely on a wire rack.

You could make them into brownie sandwich cookies, spreading the figgy non dairy cream cheese frosting in between two cookies with a yield of eight sandwich cookies. Or, go single serve and spread the figgy frosting on the flat bottom of one cookie and tile on a sliced fig on top without covering the frosting with another cookie. The yield there is 16. If you go the sandwich route, you will have extra frosting to use in other applications.

Crisp edges of the brownie pan but chewy fudgy middles you love, fill brownie sandwich cookies with figgy non dairy cream cheese frosting.

Figgy Non-Dairy Cream Cheese Frosting + Brownie Sandwich Cookies

Servings:
8 sandwich cookies / 16 single cookies

Ingredients

Brownie Cookies

• 1 bag Renewal Mill Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix
• 6 tablespoons canola oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
• 1/2 cup hot water

Figgy Non-Dairy Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup vegan butter , softened
• 4 oz vegan cream cheese , softened
• 5 oz Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Figs (mix of Golden + Mission Figs)
• 6 oz (173g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the Brownie Cookies

• In a large bowl, stir together the brownie mix with the oil and hot water until combined. Portion out 16 scoops of the same size 2 inches apart on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheet pan (I used a 1 ½ TBSP ice cream scoop). Place the sheet pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.

Make the Figgy Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

• Meanwhile, make the vegan cream cheese frosting by first beating the butter. Add in the cream cheese until combined. On low speed, mix in the powdered sugar for a few moments to integrate it, then crank the speed up to medium for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla. Fold in the finely chopped Golden and Mission California Dried Figs. Set the frosting aside.
• Remove the sheet pan from the freezer, transporting it to the oven. Bake the cookies for 23 minutes, lightly tapping the pan on the counter upon removing it from the oven. Cool cookies on the pan for 5 minutes,then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Assemble

• Spread the Figgy Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting on the flat side of one cookie to seal with another cookie to make a brownie sandwich cookie, or spread the frosting on the flat side to top with a sliced fig for a stand-alone cookie.

Recipe and photos by Annelies Zijderveld