Mother's Day brought a gift of "Martha Stewart's Cookies." And a thin chewy cookie just right for an ice cream sandwich.

One of several lovely Mother's Day Gifts.

I had secretly thought I might like a couple of Martha Stewart Cookbooks and my cookie monsters, bring intuitive as only cookie monsters are,  gifted me with her new cookie extravaganza!  So today I selected my first recipe to try.  Although I did not make them true to her recipe.  She fills them with a malt filling which I have elected to omit as I do not want to have to refrigerate them as would be the case should I make her filling.

So, I am not filling them because I am shipping them and I think them lovely as they are.  Although these flat round malt flavored cookies would be to the moon and back used as an ice cream sandwich.   I think if you simply melted some semi sweet chocolate and filled them you would have a very nice sandwich cookie not requiring refrigeration.

Ingredients for my adaptation of Chocolate Malt Cookies:

2 C. plus 2 T. all purpose flour
1/2 C. unsweetened baking cocoa
1/4 C. malted milk powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. coarse salt
1 C. room temperature butter (2 sticks)
1 3/4 C. sugar
1 lg. egg
2 t. vanilla (I used 2 t. vanilla bean paste for an enhanced vanilla flavor)
1/4 C. sour cream (Martha's recipe called for creme fresh but I was all out!)
3 T. hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare the baking pans with either parchment paper or sil-pat baking mats and set them aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, malt, soda, and salt and set aside.   Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy on medium high speed.  Mix in the egg ,vanilla, sour cream, and hot water.  Reduce the mixer's speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients until well incorporated.

Space tablespoon sized balls of dough 3 1/2" apart on the prepared baking sheets.  (I only baked 6 cookies at a time on half sheet pans.)
Bake until flat and firm, about 10-12 minutes.  Let the cookies cool in the pans a few minutes before removing them to parchment lined racks.

Yield about 3 dozen single cookies or 1 1/2 dozen if filled.


Ingredients for Martha's Malt Filling:

10 ounces semi sweet chocolate chopped fine
4 T. butter cut into small pieces (1/2 stick)
1 C. plain malted milk powder
3 ounces soft cream cheese
1/4 C. plus 2 T. half and half
1 t. vanilla

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir until smooth then let cool.  With an electric mixer at medium speed combine the malt powder and the cream cheese.  When smooth gradually add the half and half, chocolate mixture, and vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate until thick, about 30 minutes.  Mix at high speed until fluffy about 3 minutes.  Spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling on a cookie then sandwich with a second cookie.  Repeat.  Refrigerate sandwich cookies between layers of parchment in an air tight container for up to three days.

I will most likely down the road place softened ice cream between two cookies, wrap, and freeze for  a summer time treat.