I started going back to karate at the start of September, and told my sensei I’d bring some cookies at some point. My friend Jani gave me some ninja bread cookie cutters for my birthday, and it was immediately obvious what had to happen!

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1 1/2 cups softened butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar for rolling

Fudge Frosting:

• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 20 ounces semi sweet chocolate
• 7 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. It looks like a lot of sugar, and the dough tastes sweet, but when they come out of the oven they’re not nearly as sugary as you’d expect.

Beat in the flour, baking powder, and salt on low speed until evenly mixed. Wrap the dough in saran wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll a chunk of the dough out on a surface ‘floured’ with powder sugar to 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, leaving the remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready for use.

Thinner dough will keep its shape well, thicker dough leads to blobby cookies.

Cut out cookies in desired shapes and place on parchment-lined sheets.

Bake 6-8 minutes, then let cool on wire rack. Re-roll dough scraps as often as necessary, then move on to the next hunk of refrigerated dough until completely used up.

This recipe makes TONS of cookies!

When the cookies are completely cooled, make the frosting. Combine the chocolate, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, then set aside.

Heat the evaporated milk in a small pan over medium-high heat until it just reaches a simmer, then remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla, then refrigerate until slightly firmed up. Spread between cookies to sandwich.

I was thinking about too many things at once, and ended up just heating all the frosting ingredients except for the vanilla at once, then stirring the vanilla in after. This lead to more of a play-doh texture than a spread-on-able frosting, as you should get from actually following the directions.

Whoops, I made chocolate Play-Doh.

If you’re using a non-symmetrical cookie cutter, be sure to flip half of the dough cut-outs, so that you have fronts and backs for your sandwiches.

Someone’s already lost a leg in battle!

They joke that lining up is the hardest part of karate. These ninjas have it down to an art!

Chocolate-Filled Vanilla Sandwich Cookies

Cookies from AllRecipes, frosting adapted from Martha Stewart.

Cookies:

• 1 1/2 cups softened butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar for rolling

Fudge Frosting:

• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 20 ounces semi sweet chocolate
• 7 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour, baking powder, and salt on low speed until evenly mixed. Wrap the dough in saran wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll a chunk of the dough out on a surface ‘floured’ with powder sugar to 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, leaving the remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready for use.

Cut out cookies in desired shapes and place on parchment-lined sheets. Bake 6-8 minutes, then let cool on wire rack. Re-roll dough scraps as often as necessary, then move on to the next hunk of refrigerated dough until completely used up.

When the cookies are completely cooled, combine the chocolate, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, then set aside.

Heat the evaporated milk in a small pan over medium-high heat until it just reaches a simmer, then remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla, then refrigerate until slightly firmed up. Spread between cookies and sandwich.