german chocolate sandwich cookies

i don't make a ton of sweet treats, but it's halloween and about time i posted one! this recipe was inspired by two of my long-time blogger friends: megan at megan's munchies gave me the idea for the german chocolate chip cookies, and mandy at eat repeat has recently been making sandwich cookies for her guilty vegan cookie business. the two came together for me, and voilà - a german chocolate chip sandwich cookie was born. it may not be a halloween spooktacular recipe, but it sure tastes good!

for the cookies*:

• 1 box vegan german chocolate cake mix
• 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup coconut shreds
  
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoon non-hydrogenated coconut oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoons coconut shreds (for topping)
  
*note: i made a few changes to megan's cookie recipe - see the original here.

for the icing:

• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1/3 cup organic vegan sugar
• 2 teaspoon vegan margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 teaspoons ener-g egg replacer
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 cup coconut shreds
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

in a large mixing bowl, combine all the cookie ingredients and mix by hand. the dough will seem a little dry at first, but after mixing for at least 30 seconds, the dough should start to have a uniform moisture. if it's still too dry, add another tablespoon or two of applesauce, but note that the dough should remain fairly stiff. drop tablespoon-sized balls and on greased cookie sheet and press press a pinch of coconut in the top of each ball. bake at 360°f for 11 minutes. the cookies will be a little puffy when they come out, but will flatten out nicely. let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before placing on wax paper or cookie rack to cool completely. even after they have cooled, the cookies will remain soft and flexible. match up two cookies of approximately the same size.

the german chocolate icing is pretty standard. i used walnuts because that is what i had, but pecans work as well. heat all ingredients but the coconut and nuts in a small saucepan, stirring constantly. once it starts to bubble and thicken, remove from heat, and stir in the the walnuts and coconut shreds. let the icing cool considerably - i put it in the freezer for 10-12 minutes.

spoon 1-2 teaspoons of icing on top of one cookie, and gently press a second cookie on top. repeat for all cookies, keeping the icing fairly thin in between each one. put the cookies to chill for at least an hour before serving - they are much better when served slightly chilled. optionally, you can freeze them, thawing 1 hour before serving.

makes approximately 30 cookies, or 15 sandwich cookies.