Some days I feel like I’m photographing a food p*rn commercial. Like, there is SERIOUSLY SOMETHING ILLICIT ABOUT WHAT I’M DOING AND I CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS.
Does anybody else ever feel this way?
I am pretty sure my neighbors feel this way about what I do all the time.
Last week, while I was slathering some gorgeous coconut whipped filling on these amazing Biscoff oatmeal cookies (more on that in a second), my upstairs neighbor walked by my front apartment window. Now of course, I had thrown the curtains and shades wide open because I was photographing and needed light (duh), so I decided to do the neighborly thing by wiping my cream-smudged hand on my pants and waving.
Like hiya, neighbor!
I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head like a freakin’ roll of bubble wrap–I am not even kidding you. He turned tail and actually ran up the stairs. (Sadly, kind of like this.)
Away from his psycho downstairs neighbor who likes to perch precariously on bar stools in the middle of her apartment and stick her expensive camera into a bunch of cream-laden cookies……..which is apparently what I am now.
Just a psycho illicit food p*rn junkie.
It’s funny how little I notice now that food blogging is such a niche of its own and not something with which everyone is well acquainted, i.e. neighbor man who thinks I’m crazy. Now that basically everyone I know IRL knows I keep a baking blog, I’m amazed (in a good way) at how many times a day I still get asked questions like:
“So how do you find time to blog–aren’t you supposed to be like a grad student or something?” (Me: Less Facebook and nix on the Netflix. And sleep. And dating. And life in general.)
“Cool, so I guess you must be pretty financially secure to buy so many cute baking supplies and stuff, huh! *laughs wittily*” (Me: ….No.Impoverished grad students are still impoverished grad students.)
“Soooo…….what does having a “baking blog” even mean?” (Me: High sugar tolerance and a ton of self-control?)
Speaking of having no self-control whatsoever, I ate about 3 ofthese Biscoff spread inspired oatmeal chocolate chip cookie pies with whipped coconut milk filling before I could get my cream-criminated fingers off them to photograph!.
(Incidentally, Biscoff’s Facebook page shared my smashing recipe for gingerbread Biscoff coffee cupcakes last week, which got me very excited–I’ve been hoping to work with them for a long time now!)
These cookie sammies are cinnamony Biscoff spread meets chewy oatmeal cookie collides with perfectly toned coconut slams into whoopie pie which makes little babies with ice cream sandwiches.
Did you catch all that?
I handed out entire batches of these cookie pies to multiple groups of friends, and every single one of them made a point of coming back to me and telling me they were delicious. I had leftover whipped coconut milk frosting from this amazing coconut poke cake so I used that as a base for my filling. The great thing is that you can make these pies the day before, toss them in the fridge, and pull them out the next day to bring wherever you’re headed–and I find that the flavor intensified after a day or two chilled.
And of course, it doesn’t hurt that while you keep them in your fridge for an extra few days, you can always grab a few to taste test–you know, for freshness and quality and stuff…..
….Because that’s what being a baking blog blogger is all about, right? 🙂
Print this recipe–and don’t miss my favorite recipe links from this week, which I’ll post on Friday!
Happy cookie pie-ing,
What do you think: how many people in your life understand your/our obsession with food blogs?
Yield: 1 dozen whoopie pies
A soft, chewy, and incredibly moist collision of whoopie pie meets ice cream sandwich! These decadent, slightly cinnamony (Biscoffy) cookies taste wholesome and make the perfect gift for visitors. Leave them in the fridge overnight for an even more impressive, developed coconut & cinnamony flavor!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1/2 cup Biscoff spread or cookie butter, slightly melted in microwave
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 3/4 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the coconut filling:
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 tablespoon cream of coconut (optional)
- 1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, slightly melted Biscoff spread, and both sugars until smooth and fluffy.
- Mix in egg and vanilla.
- Add flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and stir in until just incorporated. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Drop by rounded spoonfuls (approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter) on cookie sheet, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until the edges have set and the center is still fairly soft. Remove sheet from oven and allow cookies to continue "baking" on stovetop for another five minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.
- To assemble: Spread coconut filling (instructions below) on one cookie and smush another cookie on top. Presto! Instant cookie pie.
For the coconut filling:
- In a medium pot or saucepan, bring milk, flour, and sugar to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes without stirring, then turn off heat and add vanilla. Cool mixture completely, to room temperature. You can place the pot (on a potholder) in the freezer to speed up this process--just make sure it does not overcool.
- In the meantime, whip butter with an electric mixture until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add cream of coconut and beat for another minute. Add cooled milk mixture and beat for another 5 minutes, until completely smooth.
- Fold in sweetened coconut flakes and refrigerate until ready to frost cookies.
