The time for Christmas cookies is NOW. I’m kicking things off with these crispy chocolate ganache sandwich cookies. These cookies have a sweet, cinnamon biscuit-like texture with smooth chocolate filling, somewhat like a Milano cookie (but thicker). As long as you have some cookie cutters on hand, these are pretty easy!
What you need to make chocolate ganache sandwich cookies
This does require a few items and your kitchen will be a little messy:
- 2-3 inch round cookie cutter – these were the smallest cutters I had, but if you want to make even smaller sandwich cookies, you use that!
- 1 inch star cookie cutter – this cutter can actually be any shape you want, but it has to fit inside the cookie rounds we cut out WITHOUT breaking the cookie’s perimeter. Or else they will just break apart. I got my star cookie cutter at Anthropologie, here.
- Medium mixing bowl – to hold our dry ingredients.
- A stand mixer or electric mixer – we will need to whip up our batter, so either one will work. Here’s my KitchenAid mixer and here’s my favorite handheld mixer.
- Rolling pin – very necessary for rolling out our chilled dough!
- Parchment paper – what would we do without it??? So our cookies don’t stick to the pan.
- Small saucepan – to heat up our chocolate ganache.
How to make the cookie batter
It’s important to note that this batter will be stiffer than cookie dough that produces a chewy cookie. Since we want these to have a snap to them, the batter will thicken up. You will need to scrape the sides of your bowl as you go to help incorporate all of the flour and dry ingredients.
Once the butter and sugar have been whipped, add your dry ingredients in a couple of increments and mix it together slowly.
Here’s an important part: split the dough in half, and shape each side into a flat rectangle (or disc). You will need to wrap it with some plastic wrap and then place it in the fridge to chill. You will need the dough to chill or else the cookies will be messy. I left mine in there overnight, but 1 hour is good enough.
Tips for making chocolate ganache
The key to making the chocolate filling is to NOT burn the cream and the chocolate. Add the cream to a saucepan and heat it over medium heat briefly. Add the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute, and then slowly stir the chocolate until it melts into the cream. At no point should the sauce be bubbling! If it does, turn down the heat.
Continue to stir the sauce until it is dark, shiny and thickened. Then remove the sauce from the heat and let it completely cool. It will continue to thicken.
Make the cookie sandwiches
I used both halves of the dough for this recipe. Take the chilled dough and (one half at a time) roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Then it’s time to cut out the cookies! Half of the cookies will be whole circles, and the other half will have star cut outs.
Once you cut out as many cookies as you can, take the cookie dough scraps and mush them together. Roll the dough out again and cut out more cookies, and repeat the process until you cannot any longer.
Be sure to separate the star cookies from the plain cookies onto different cookie sheets. The star cookies only 11-12 minutes to bake, while the whole cookies need 13 minutes since they have more dough.
NOTE: I sprinkled the stars (the actual insides of the cookies that were cut out) all over the baking sheets too, but you can mush those up to make bigger cookies if you want!
Be SURE to let the cookies cool completely before adding the chocolate ganache in the center and sandwiching them together.
Other recipes to try
If you like these chocolate ganache sandwich cookies, here are some others to try:
- Apple Butter Cookies with Maple Cream Frosting
- Hot Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint
- Kitchen Sink Cookies
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Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- 2 inch cookie cutter
- small star cookie cutter
- medium mixing bowl
- stand mixer
- Rolling Pin
- parchment paper
- small saucepan
Ingredients
For the sandwich cookies
- 3½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup maple syrup grade A
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the chocolate ganache
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Set aside.3½ cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp cinnamon
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds on medium high until the butter was whipped. Add the brown sugar and beat for a minute until well combined. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and beat for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and then add the egg. Beat on medium high until well combined, about 1 minute.10 tbsp unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup maple syrup, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 egg
- Add the dry ingredients in two increments, beating on low speed. After a minute, the dough will start to stiffen and become thick. Scrape the sides with a spatula to ensure everything is well combined.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into two even halves. Shape each half into a flat rectangle and wrap both with plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a floured surface, unwrap one of the batter rectangles and place it on the countertop. Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is about ¼ inch thick. The batter may break apart in some areas – just use your gingers to smash the cracks back together.
- With a round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Then take the scraps, roll the dough out again, and repeat until you can't cut out anymore circles. Repeat the process with the other half of the cookie batter.
- Using your star cookie cutter, carefully cut out the center of half of the cookie circles.
- Place all of the star cut-out cookies on one baking sheet, and the normal circles on another baking sheet (the cut out cookies bake slightly faster). You can also bake the stars you cut out! Scatter those among the baking sheets where there is room.
- Bake the whole circles in the oven for 13 minutes, and bake the cut out cookies for 11-12 minutes each. Let each sheet cool for a few minutes, and then move the cookies to cooling rack. Let them cool completely.
- In the meantime, prepare the ganache. In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Dump in the chocolate and let it melt, slowly stirring it until it becomes smooth and shiny. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes. It will thicken.¼ cup heavy whipping cream, ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- To make the sandwiches, spoon about 1 teaspoon of chocolate filling to the center of a whole cookie, and the press a star cut-out cookie on top and press together. Repeat until you run out!
- Refrigerate the cookies for 20 minutes to help the ganache set. Enjoy!
