Root beer and vanilla flavors shine through in this recipe for Root Beer Float Sandwich Cookies. They will take you back to your childhood!

Root Beer Float Cookies — Root beer and vanilla flavors shine through in this sandwich cookie recipe that will take you back to your childhood!

Two delicious, soft, cakey cookies sandwiched together with a creamy filling with the flavors of a classic Root Beer Float.

These sandwich cookies will take you back to the days when you were a kid and got a special treat on the weekend. Scoops of vanilla ice cream with Root Beer poured over to create a creamy, sweet and slightly frothy float. Those were the days!

I will tell you, though. I probably never would have thought to make this cookie on my own.

My son's girlfriend actually had the idea and asked him if he thought I would be able to make it. She wasn't even sure if you could make a root beer inspired cookie and, to be honest, neither was I.

Concentrate vs. Extract

I decided to make it happen, even if I had never heard of a Root Beer Float cookie in my life.

After thinking about reducing actual root beer for hours and hours on the stove (inspired by Nadiya's cream soda syrup on GBBO), I thought that would be the only way to get authentic root beer flavor into this cookie.

I try to stay away from extracts, except for vanilla and almond. Extracts tend to give an artificial, chemical taste to baked goods and that is not a flavor that I want to put into my cookies!

You can buy Root Beer Extract in stores and online. But please don't. Please go the extra mile and find Root Beer Concentrate. The difference in taste is INCREDIBLE! The concentrate is a bit more expensive and not as easy to find in stores. But it is available online and you can have it on your doorstep in just a couple of days.

Mix gently

When you make these cookies, make sure that you only mix until the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Overmixing will cause the gluten to develop and these cookies will be too cakey and a bit chewy.

Just add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently until you no longer see any streaks of flour. You don't even have to use a mixer to incorporate the flour - if you do it by hand, there is less chance of overmixing!

Root Beer Float Sandwich Cookies

Recipe by Tanya Ott

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

For the Cookies
226 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
400 grams (2 cups) light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 ½ teaspoons Root Beer Concentrate (NOT extract!)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
450 grams (3 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup buttermilk (or make your own - tip below)
For the Filling
56 grams (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon shortening
250 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon Root Beer Concentrate
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F/176C.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and then add Root Beer Concentrate and buttermilk. Mix until combined and then scrape down sides of the bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add flour mixture to your batter until just combined.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. I use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
To make the filling, cream together the butter and shortening until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and Root Beer Concentrate. Slowly add in powdered sugar then add in milk until desired consistency is reached.
Spread filling on the bottom of one cookie then place another cookie on top to create a sandwich. Pipe the filling on with a piping bag and tip if desired.
Store in an air tight container for up to 3 or 4 days.

Notes

If you don't have buttermilk, just add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to ¼ cup milk and allow to set for 5 minutes, then use in place of the buttermilk.