Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Milk Chocolate Filling
Tender, fine-textured dark chocolate cookies sandwiched with a rich dark and milk chocolate ganache filling.
Ingredients
Unsalted butter (very soft)
8 ounces (2 sticks/225 grams)
Semi-sweet chocolate (melted and cooled (cocoa solids no more than 55%))
6 ounces (175 grams)
All-purpose flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled)
2- cups
Powdered sugar (sifted)
1/2 cup
Heavy cream (for filling)
1/2 cup
Milk chocolate (melted and cooled (for filling))
4 ounces (100 grams)
Unsalted butter (very soft (for filling))
2 tablespoons
Powdered sugar (for decoration)
to taste
Instructions
1
Make the cookie dough
Place the butter in a bowl and stir with a large rubber spatula until smooth. Stir the chocolate into the butter (if the chocolate is still warm, the butter will melt and the dough will be ruined). Stir in the flour and powdered sugar to form a soft dough.
2
Chill the dough
Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, then cover with more plastic wrap. Press the dough with your hands to about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Slide the dough onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, 1 to 2 hours, up to 3 days.
3
Preheat the oven
When ready to bake, position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
4
Roll out the dough
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 3 equal portions. Place 1 portion of the dough on a floured work surface and return the rest to the refrigerator. Lightly dust with flour, press down gently with a rolling pin to soften, then roll into a 10 inch (25 cm) square about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.
5
Cut out the cookies
Use a 2 to 2.5 inch (5 to 6 cm) fluted round cutter to cut the dough into rounds, lift them with a small spatula, and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Place the remaining dough scraps in a small bowl and refrigerate. Repeat with the remaining dough, then reroll the chilled scraps to make more cookies.
6
Bake
Bake the cookies until firm and no longer shiny, 15 to 20 minutes. After 7 to 8 minutes of baking, swap the position of the top and bottom baking sheets, and rotate the sheets front to back. If the oven bottom is heating too intensely, place the bottom baking sheet on top of another baking sheet to insulate. Slide the parchment paper with the cookies off the baking sheets to cool.
7
Make the filling
While the cookies are baking, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it just simmers. Pour into a bowl and cool. Add the cooled cream to the melted chocolate and whisk until smooth. Distribute the small pieces of softened butter over the surface and whisk until smooth. Let the filling stand until it is firm enough to spread.
8
Assemble and decorate
Flip half of the cookie bases so the flattest side is up. Pipe or spoon a little filling onto each cookie. Top with another cookie and press together gently. Just before serving, lightly dust with a little powdered sugar.
