gluten free vegan chocolate sandwich cookies

There are many treats that bring you back to your childhood.  The ones you got so excited to see in your school lunch.  I think we can all agree that one of the top fave treats for little kids…Oreo cookies!  Two chocolate cookies, sandwiched together.  Don’t forget about the creamy filling!  A big stack of Oreo cookies and a cold glass of milk.  Perfection.

I decided it was time to come up with a recipe for gluten free Oreo cookies.  How hard could it be?  All I needed was a simple, lightly sweetened chocolate cookie.  I was going for a cookie with the same flavor, but more of a soft texture in the center.  These gluten free and vegan chocolate sandwich cookies are just what I had in mind!  They are pretty cute too.  Bite size and in my opinion, WAY better than the original chocolate sandwich cookie!

makes 28-30 cookie sandwiches

• 1 3/4 cups Sarah’s gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup organic brown sugar
• 1/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/2 cup sunflower seed oil
• 1/2 cup So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

creamy filling

• 1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons organic non-hydrogenated shortening
• 1-2 tablespoons So Delicious french Vanilla coffee creamer*

Sift together flour blend, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, cane sugar, and oil.  Beat for 2 minutes until creamy.  Mix in the coconut milk and vanilla extract.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Refrigerate dough for 1 hour, to make it easier to work with.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Take heaping teaspoon-size scoops of dough and roll into balls.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.  Flatten dough with bottom of glass or fingers to make a small circle (cookies won’t spread much).  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before placing on cooling rack.  Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

While cookies cool, prepare the cream filling.  Beat together the powdered sugar, shortening and 1 tablespoon creamer until smooth.  Add an additional tablespoon of creamer if needed.  Place filling in pastry bag and pipe onto center of half of the cookies (about a teaspoon).  Top each one with an additional cookie and lightly press.  Store finished cookie sandwiches in airtight container.

*You can also use the unsweetened coconut milk with 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.