Chocolaty Double Crunchers — The Wednesday Dinner Cookie

The Wednesday-dinner tradition started this week. Cody and Mama have been quietly pushing the cafe toward a four-day-week schedule for the past three months — closed Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch service plus Saturday and Sunday brunch — so they can have actual lives outside the kitchen. The schedule change rolled out at the start of January when the cafe officially closed Wednesdays.

Cody started a Wednesday-evening family dinner at his Tulsa apartment with Mama and whoever else from extended family is in town. The first one was Wednesday this past week. I FaceTimed in with Brayden in my lap on the apartment couch in Nashville. Aunt Linda and Roy were there in person. The dinner ran two hours. Cody made his cafe’s slow-roasted Sunday-pork-loin recipe, scaled down for four people. The plan is to do this every Wednesday going forward, with FaceTime open for whoever can’t make it in person.

The Wednesday-dinner tradition is going to become a thing in our family. I can already feel it.

Sunday I made chocolaty double crunchers as the cookie I sent in the FedEx box for the inaugural Wednesday dinner. Cody had texted Tuesday asking if I’d ship a cookie for the inaugural meal so I could be at the table in food-form even when I couldn’t be there in person. The cookie I picked needed to ship well, hold for two days, and feel like a Sunday-bake-effort even though it was traveling. Chocolaty double crunchers — chocolate-and-peanut-butter sandwich cookies — were the right pick.

The technique: the cookies. In a large bowl, cream a cup of softened butter with a cup of granulated sugar and a cup of light brown sugar packed for three minutes. Add two large eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla. Mix smooth. Add two and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour, three-quarters cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, a teaspoon of baking soda, a half-teaspoon of salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in a cup of chocolate chips.

Roll into one-inch balls. Place two inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake at three-fifty for ten minutes until just set. Cool completely.

The peanut butter filling: a cup of creamy peanut butter beat with a half-cup of softened butter, three cups of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt. Spread a generous tablespoon of filling on the bottom of one cookie and sandwich with another. Twenty-four sandwiches from one batch.

I packed twelve of the sandwich cookies in parchment paper inside a small bakery box, packed the box in a FedEx-prepared shipping carton with bubble wrap, and shipped Tuesday morning. They arrived in Tulsa Wednesday afternoon in time for the dinner. Cody texted me a photo of the box opened on his coffee table.

Chocolate cookies, peanut butter filling, sandwiched. Ship-stable. Here’s the build.

Chocolaty Double Crunchers

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup crispy rice cereal

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
3. Add egg and vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined.
4. Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just combined.
5. Fold in mix-ins. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and crispy rice cereal. The dough will be thick — that’s what gives these their crunch.
6. Scoop and flatten. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Gently press each ball down slightly with the palm of your hand.
7. Bake. Bake for 9–11 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Do not overbake — they firm up as they cool.
8. Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 105 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 55mg