Butterscotch Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Makes about 24-28 sandwich cookies. Recipe & photo courtesy of unegaminedanslacuisine.com.
Ingredients:
chocolate cookies:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted (try Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
butterscotch filling:
- 3/4 cup tightly brown sugar (light or dark)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided in half
- 1 Tablespoon Bourbon
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (if using); Set the bowl aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on med-high until fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine (about 2 minutes). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Scrape the cookie dough out onto a very lightly floured surface. Form it into a large ball, and divide it in half. Pat each half into a 6-inch disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove one disk of cookie dough from the fridge. If it’s too hard for rolling, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Use a lightly floured 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible. (I didn’t have a 3-inch cookie cutter so I used one that was 2-inches instead.) Place the cookies onto prepared sheets. If you worked fast enough you can re-roll the scraps of dough right away. If it feels too sticky, gather the scraps, wrap, and refrigerate for a few minutes. Repeat with the other dough disk.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, or until they have puffed and the tops look dry. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 8 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding the filling.
For filling:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, salt, heavy cream, and 4 Tablespoons of the butter. Bring the mixture to a gently boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it has reached a boil, increase the heat slightly and, stirring constantly, continue to cook until the mixture turn syrupy (about 2 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and let cool until thickened and barely warm to the touch (about 15 minutes).
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the remaining 4 Tablespoons of butter bourbon and confectioners’ sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. - Dollop the filling onto half of the cooled cookies and top each with the remaining halves, pressing down gently so that the filling lovingly spreads around the entire cookie.
Recipe & photo courtesy of unegaminedanslacuisine.com.
