Instructions

  1. Beat together the sugar, shortening, salt, and vanilla. The mixture will seem very dry at first, but will eventually begin to clump together.

  2. Add the water, beating until smooth and spreadable. The filling should be stiff, but not so stiff that you can't flatten it when you sandwich it between your cookies.

  3. For best presentation, roll pieces of filling into a ball before gently flattening atop cookie bottoms, and adding cookie tops.

Tips from our Bakers

  • For colorful, holiday-themed sandwich cookies, beat up to 10 drops gel paste food colors into the prepared filling. Start with 2 to 4 drops of paste, then work your way up, drop by drop, until you achieve your desired color.
  • Can you substitute butter for the vegetable shortening? You can; the filling will taste different, and won't hold up as well if the weather is warm.
  • For sandwich cookies with a flavorful twist, replace the teaspoon of vanilla extract with 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (our Pure Vanilla Plus is a good choice); ½ to 1 teaspoon of another extract, or a few drops to 1/8 teaspoon of one of our extra-strong flavors. Start with the lesser amount of flavoring then add more little by little until you achieve your desired strength.

Baker’s Resources