Leftover frosting, put to good use in between cinnamon grahams. Easy, everyday … you can hardly even call it “cooking.” Although I did make the frosting from scratch. And I eventually used some of these sandwich cookies to make sundaes. So maybe it does qualify as cooking?

This isn’t a recipe as much as it is another story about using up leftovers. Now, you may not have ever heard of “leftover frosting,” so long as you’ve always had a spoon handy and no one watching after you’d frosted a cake.

I love cakes, and feel that one possible test of a great cake is that it should be fantastic unfrosted. Or you might garnish a fantastic cake with frosting. Or you might create a cake that is a beautiful balance of cake and frosting. It’s never all about the frosting, though … at least not to my way of thinking. So, when I’m frosting a cake, I never assume that I’ll use all the frosting, and in fact, I sometimes wind up with more unused frosting than I’d care to secretly eat in one sitting.

This is one of my favorite things to do with lots of leftover frosting: sandwich it between grahams. If I have the time an energy, I’ll make the grahams myself. I was pretty busy around the time I made this post, and decided that store-bought cinnamon grahams would work, and they did.

The frosting I’ve used here is leftover chocolate buttercream from “The Bear” Chocolate Cake. More on that in a future post.

Buttercream can keep for quite some time in the fridge, so you’re under no pressure to get these cookies made. That’s advantageous, because that buttercream could sit comfortably in fridge until the cake you made with it is already in your rear view mirror. When you’re ready, let the buttercream come to room temperature, use them to make graham sandwich cookies, put the cookies in an airtight container, and keep that container in the fridge, where they’ll keep far longer than your will power. You can let the sandwich cookies come toward room temperature before serving if you like, but err on the side of cool, because at true room temperature, they’re kind of messy. They’re great right out of the fridge. You’d think that the fridge would make the grahams soft, but it doesn’t.

Frosting grahams without breaking them can be tricky. Start by placing a dab of frosting in the center of the graham. Then, using small amounts, scrape your way around the edges of the graham, building up a layer of frosting all the way around the periphery. Smooth it out just slightly. Press a second graham on top, and gently twist it as you press the sandwich together. If you’ve used enough frosting, this should push it into an even layer, distributed across the entire graham. Try to apply pressure generally instead of in a concentrated area.

Leftover Frosting Sundaes

I suppose the obvious thing would be to spread a bit of marshmallow fluff into the cookies along with the chocolate frosting and make something like a s’more, but I rarely do the obvious thing.

Instead, I do this: drizzle some (homemade chocolate sauce and) homemade caramel sauce into the inside of a glass. Alternate scoops of homemade ice cream with graham frosting cookies that you’ve cut into eighths. Top with more (chocolate and) caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. I’d serve this to guests – it’s that good. (The chocolate sauce may compete with a chocolate frosting; in that case, go light with the sauce, or omit it.)

Leftover Frosting

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #15 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs. 

Keep up with us on Bloglovin’