Chocolate CrÈme Sandwiches From Dories Cookies Recipes

CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES WITH VANILLA-CREAM FILLING

Steps:

• Set 2 racks in the middle and upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. In a food processor or the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. While pulsing or on low speed, add the butter, then the egg. Process or beat until the dough is thoroughly blended and massed together. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheets at 2-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, round out the cookies and flatten them a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pans once for even baking, until the cookies are set. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.
• Vanilla-Cream Filling: Put the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and, at low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, until blended. Turn the mixer up to high and beat for 2 or 3 minutes more, until fluffy.
• With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip, pipe teaspoon size blobs of filling onto the tops of half the cookies. Keeping the smooth bottoms of the cookies facing up, flip the remaining cookies on top of the filling and lightly press to form sandwiches.

CHOCOLATE CRÈME SANDWICHES FROM DORIE'S COOKIES

Steps:

• A word on cocoa:.
• The darker the cocoa you use for these, the darker and more like Oreos your cookies will be. I use cocoa powder made by Valrhona; it's very dark brown with hints of red. If you want an even darker color, you can use a combination of black cocoa (available online from King Arthur Flour) and Dutch-processed cocoa powder. As with all cookies, it's the taste that counts. Because cocoa has no fat, it will never have the richness of your favorite chocolate, but it will give rich flavor to whatever you're baking, so choose your cocoa as carefully as you choose your chocolate.
• TO MAKE THE COOKIES:.
• Whisk the flour and cocoa together.
• Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg white and mix for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed, until the white, which will curdle the mixture at first, is fully incorporated and the mixture is once again smooth. Mix in the vanilla. Turn off the machine, add the flour and cocoa all at once and pulse until the risk of flying flour has passed. Turn the mixer to medium and mix until you have a dough that holds together and forms clumps when pinched - it shouldn't come together in a ball.
• Scrape the dough out onto a work surface and knead it until it comes together. Divide the dough in half and flatten into disks.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough between pieces of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Slide the dough, still between paper, onto a baking sheet - you can stack the slabs - and freeze for at least 1 hour.
• GETTING READY TO BAKE:.
• Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Have a 2-inch-diameter cookie cutter (or the cutter of your choice) at hand.
• Working with one sheet of dough at a time, peel away both pieces of parchment paper and put the dough back on one piece of paper. Cut the dough and place the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving an inch between them. Gather together the scraps from both pieces of dough, re-roll them and freeze until firm.
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes, or until the cookies feel firm to the touch. Transfer the sheets to racks and allow the cookies to rest for at least 5 minutes before lifting them onto the racks to cool to room temperature.
• Cut and bake the remaining dough, using cool baking sheets.
• TO MAKE THE FILLING:.
• Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat all the ingredients together on medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes. The filling will look like cream cheese.
• TO FINISH THE COOKIES:.
• Put a spoonful of filling on the bottom of half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom side down, and jiggle the cookies, twisting them in opposite directions, to spread the filling evenly. The cookies can be eaten immediately, although the filling will be soft and squish out at first bite. If you'd like neater cookies (with filling that will still squish, but less so), give the filling a couple of hours to set and firm a little, or chill the cookies for 1 hour.
• STORING:.
• The rolled-out dough can be frozen, wrapped airtight, for up to 2 months. The dough can also be cut into rounds, wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; no need to defrost before baking. The filling can be made ahead and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Once baked and filled, the cookies are best served that day, but they can be wrapped well and refrigerated for up to 2 days. The cookies are good cold or at room temperature.
• Recipe courtesy of DORIE'S COOKIES by Dorie Greenspan.
• Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Dories-Cookies-Dorie-Greenspan/dp/0547614845/.

CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the dark and light chocolate cake mix. Add the eggs and oil, mix until well blended. Roll dough into 2 inch balls, and place them onto the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly with the back of a spoon.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
• To make the filling, beat the cream cheese and confectioner' sugar together until smooth. Spread between two cooled cookies.

WORLD'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (BY DORIE GREENSPAN)

Steps:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
• Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well-blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes inches Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and nuts.
• Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between spoonfuls.
• Bake the cookies- one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point- for 10-12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that's just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully, using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.
• Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.