Maple & Brown Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Filling

Happy Tuesday everybody!
So it’s official – I have totally broken my 2015 New Years resolution… which was to post to this blog at least once a week. But hey, It’s basically mid April so that means I kept up with my resolution for three and a half whole months, which is essentially a quarter of the year and I think that I deserve some credit for that right??? Okay, so maybe I don’t deserve credit of any kind, but I’m just trying not to dwell on the fact that I have to add yet another thing to my list of failed New Years resolution attempts. But alright, alright, in the interest of owning my up to my shortcomings, i’ll just admit it – I failed …(insert defeated sigh here :P)

Now I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, because I am a big believer in the “no excuses” policy right now, but what can I say, these last two weeks have been a little bit of a whirlwind for me and as a result I totally let myself get behind in my posts… Blaaah!!! But hey – I am here now, so I say enough with the dwelling on the bad and let’s move on to celebrating the good – agreed?! Agreed.

So I have some very exciting news that I have been dying to share!!! (insert drum roll here…) I have officially been accepted as a vendor for the 2015 Maple Ridge Farmers Market!!! :D:D:D Yipeeee!!!! Eeeps!!!- I am so excited, and clearly I can hardly contain myself!!! I can’t believe that I am actually being given the opportunity to be selling my homemade baked goodies to wonderful (and many) hungry patrons that attend the Maple Ridge Farmers Market every Saturday through the Spring until the Fall! Is it obvious that I’m ecstatic yet or should I be a little bit more flamboyant 😉 ?? Just kidding… I think my enthusiasm is probably getting to the point where it’s bordering on annoying right, so let me just take a quick moment to compose myself here… (cleansing breaths…. more cleansing breaths…) alright, I think I’m good now 😛 

Honestly though, I can’t even believe it! I mean a year ago, Cole’s mom suggested the brilliant idea of me selling my goodies in Farmers Markets, and although I loved the idea of it, I never thought that I would actually be able to make it come to fruition. Have I ever told you that I am a little bit lacking in the self confidence department? Well, now you know, and I would be completely lying if I said that my own self doubt hasn’t held me back from many great opportunities in the past. However, I am trying this new thing where I say “Screw you self-doubt!” and actually believe that I can accomplish the things that I want to in life.

Alright, so I know the idea of having the confidence to follow your dreams thing is probably no new concept to many of you, but for me it is a completely new way of thinking, and I gotta say… I am lovin’ it so far! I mean really, what did self deprecation ever get me in life?? Allow me to answer that for you – it got me nothing… well nothing but more self deprecation, which for those of you can relate to this way of thinking… you know first hand that it is no fun at all.  So I want to encourage those of you who, like me, spent most of your life looking down on yourself and always coming up with reasons or excuses as to why you can’t do something. Listen, I’m no motivational speaker or anything, but I really want anybody out there reading this blog, who has ever felt this way about themselves to know that you are not alone, and that if you really love something – don’t let self doubt be the road block that keeps you from chasing your dreams.

So today, I want to celebrate this new found way of thinking with all of you, and seriously what better way is there to celebrate than with cookies? Well, come to think of it there is one better way to celebrate… and that would be to celebrate with Sandwich Cookies – yeah baby! And when they come in the form of these Maple & Brown Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with a Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Filling…. I think we can all agree that the celebration will be epic!

So let’s hop to it ladies and gents! Check out the recipe below and let’s see who wins the award for fastest to their mixing bowl 😛

Maple & Brown Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting 
Makes Small Batch – about 15 sandwich cookies

Things you need…

Brown Butter & Maple Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
1/2 cup butter, browned & cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Filling
1/2 pkg cream cheese, room temp
2 tbsp butter, room temp
3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

How to make… 

Brown Butter & Maple Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the browned butter, sugar and maple syrup until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until completely combined and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and add the vanilla; beat until completely combined.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together coconut, flour, rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt to combine. Slowly pour into wet ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat until dough forms.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for thirty minutes to an hour to allow the butter to set up. Remove the dough from the fridge, and spoon 1 inch balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Roll the dough with your hands to create a nice circular shape and press down on the balls to flatten slightly.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Allow to cool completely before filling with brown sugar cream cheese filling.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Filling
In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and there are no lumps. Slowly add 1/2 of the icing sugar and the 2 tbsp of brown sugar mixing on low until combined. Add the remaining 1/2 of icing sugar, mixing on low to combine. Add the vanilla and beat the icing for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.

Using a piping bag or a knife, take 1/2 of the cookies, and spread about 1 tbsp of the brown sugar cream cheese filling on the bottom of the cookie. Take the other half of the cookies and place them bottom side down on top of the filling to create the cookie sandwiches.

Eat immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

Alright – show of hands… who is already making their way to their mixing bowl with the intent to make these cookies? Who already has their butter and maple syrup creaming in their mixing bowl? Who is already in the process of eating their cookie dough? If you raised your hand for any of these questions… you are officially a winner!

So I am a little bit obsessed with Sandwich cookies at the moment and I have been trying out many recipes, but I have to tell you that this is definitely one of my favourite recipes for sandwich cookies. The oatmeal cookies are just so soft and chewy, and the flavours of the maple syrup, the brown butter and the cream cheese all come together in perfect harmony and make it downright impossible for you to refrain from eating one after another! I mean honestly, you need not look any further than this recipe title for an explanation as to why you need to make these as soon as possible. They. Are. Delicious – enough said.

Now before I sign off today, I have to give a little bit of a sappy shout out….

Okay so as you well know by now,  I am positively giddy to have been given the opportunity to participate in the 2015 Haney Farmers Market – but I have to admit that I would be completely lying if I said I wasn’t also positively terrified! This is the part where my low self esteem and my self doubt begins to rear its ugly head and I begin to get a little bit squirrely about the whole thing. Thank goodness I have the most amazing, supportive boyfriend, friends and family who have been not only encouraging me to apply for the Farmers Market all this time, but have been offering their support and help ever since I got the news that I was accepted. Honestly a girl could not ask for a better support system – I am so very lucky to have these amazing people in my life and I want you all to know how much I love and appreciate you!

And of course I could not leave today without thanking all of you who have been stopping by to read my blog and try out my recipes! You are the reason that I do this, and the driving force behind it all, so thank you so much! If any of you are living in the greater Vancouver area, stay tuned for updates about my Farmers Market dates and the location if you are interested in coming to check me out! I would love to see you there!

Happy Baking <3

KP xoxo