Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache

May 12, 2015 Published by Dina

Rich and velvety chocolate ganache sandwiched between two crisp chocolate cookies is a treat for any of the chocoholics out there. If it’s too much chocolate you can use raspberry jam between the cookies instead. I have been on a baking spree lately, baking breads, biscotti, a couple of cakes and orange muffins. I don’t know about you but with me it like that, I get on a roll with one thing or another until I move on to something else.

I make the recipe without a mixer, stirring everything together by hand. The dough needs to be refrigerated for a while to firm up. It’s easy to handle and re-rolls nicely.

What else is happening? It’s wine festival week here and I have been out on a number of food and wine events in the valley. There was a grilled cheese and local wines event at lakefront Hotel Eldorado. It was interesting to try the cheeses both in their natural form as well as grilled. Most were wonderful cheeses but my conclusion was that not all cheeses need to be melted. Then we had lunch and a vineyard walk at a local winery Cedar Creek vineyard with a lovely picnic lunch at tables set with white linen among the vines. Tomorrow it’s a tour (by invitation only) of a few wineries south of Kelowna. This is life in the Okanagan, at least in the summer.

This recipe should just about round off my recent baking spree, and I may move on to other things. Stay tuned.


 

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache


Recipe inspired by Cookies, over 70 classic and creative cookie recipes by Love Food

Recipe for the chocolate cut out cookies from Hershey’s Kitchen


 

Ingredients:


1 egg

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

Chocolate ganache:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream


 

Directions:


 

Preheat oven to 325F and lined a baking sheet with parchment.

Place the soft butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl and beat with a whisk or a mixer for a couple of minutes to blend. Don’t beat for too long to prevent too much air from incorporating into the batter.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together and add them to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. You can do this by hand or with a mixer. Continue to mix until a dough begins to forms. Remove from the the bowl and press it together with your hands to form a ball of dough.

Wrap the dough with plastic and refrigerate to firm it up, about 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch thickness. I roll it on one sheet of wax paper but don’t really need the top sheet.

Cut out with a round cookie cutter about 2.5 inch diameter. Keep re-rolling the dough until you use it all. If you don’t have a cookie cutter of the right size use an inverted glass.

I find that it is best to lift the rounds with a long flexible icing spatula (see image below). You slide it under the cookie rounds and lift them easily without disturbing their shape.

Place the rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet slightly apart and bake at 325F until barley firm to the touch, about 15 minutes, depending on your oven.

Remove and let cool on a rack. Cookies will harden as they cool

To make the ganache:

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a glass or ceramic bowl with the cream.

Microwave for about a minute and then remove and stir it to melt the remaining chocolate pieces. They will melt as you stir. You may need to return to the microwave for a few more second but the chocolate will continue to melt as you stir it.

Refrigerate the ganache until it is of spreadable consistency. If it gets too hard, bring back to room temperature or warm slightly in the microwave.


 

To assemble:


 

Pair ip the cookies and spread the ganache on the bottom one. Slightly press the top cookie over the ganache.

You can dust some cocoa or powdered sugar over if you wish.

Enjoy.


Chocolate cookies

Chocolate cookies

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache

 

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache

Chocolate cookies with chocolate ganache



 

 

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