You didn't actually believe me.
Two days of studying? Me? Not if I can help it.
Well, ok there was some studying...it is finals week.
But really, it was mostly baking. Oh how I've missed cookie making.
My day actually started off quite early with a morning turbo kick boxing class. But surprise! It was videotaping day for the new video or something like that. And I guess mostly everyone got the memo except yours truly. I wondered why everyone walked in with makeup one and coordinated outfits. And I was snooze walking every few seconds. Oh well. I'm pretty sure it kept me off camera.
Sooo of course after working out, the only logical thing to do is to bake cookies. Today, I made 2 kinds, but the chocolate raspberry sandwich cookies were the clear winner. The other cookie was a pinwheel rugelach. Which has always intrigued me...but was somewhat disappointing. It could be because I didn't use raisins. (Don't like raisins). And becuase I used my candied nut mix as opposed to walnuts. (Been trying to get those candied nuts out of my freezer forever). But actually, what I also chalk it up to was that it's more pie crust than cookie. Rugelachs are made with cream cheese and butter...and it's just not working for me.
But then again, it's pretty hard to compete with chocolate shortbread and raspberry jam sandwiches. Especially when you dip them in white chocolate and then dust them with chunky sparkling sanding sugar.
As much as I adore these little suckers, they were definitely an ordeal to make. And I didn't even make all of them.
Actually assembling the dough is pretty straightforward. It's just a shortbread recipe...but the rolling...sighh...those stupid logs.
And you know what the worst part is? Just imagine what chocolate shortbread looks like rolled into a log. Take a moment to picture it. I'll wait.
Yeah, right? Terrible.
And they kept breaking in half. Not at all like Play Doh. Those were the days.
Yup. That was my cookies. Rolled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
Then you roll them in sugar.
And then you pancake them.
And then you turn them into sandwiches with some raspberry jam. And you might even want to dip them in white chocolate. Or any chocolate. But sparkly sanding sugar looks much nicer on white chocolate.
I'm always looking for a way to use sanding sugar.
And then you try really hard to just eat one. Just one. I wish I made them bigger.
Tasty and adorable.
Make them! You'll luv them! It's true. As I mentioned earlier, I did not make all the cookies. The rolling got me down. I was all set to have slice and bake cookies with the leftovers until I tasted these little bites, and yeah...more sandwiches on the way.
Typically these chocolate sandwich cookies are filled with a ganache and not raspberry jam. But I luv chocolate and raspberries, and the thought of them together in one cookie was too much excitement for me to pass up. And, I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate on chocolate things, but if you are, feel free to substitute the jam withe ganache.
Baci di Cioccolato (or Raspberry in my case)
adapted from Gina de Palma, Dolce Italiano
Cookies:
1/2 cup whole almonds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Raspberry jam for filling
1/2 cup white chocolate, chopped
or
Ganache:
8-ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
Combine ganache ingredients in heat safe bowl over a double boiler. Mix until melted. Remove from heat.
1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Toast almonds 15 minutes. Process in food processor with 1 tablespoon sugar.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
3. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy and well incorporated. About 3 minutes.
4. Add vanilla. Mix.
5. Turn mixer on low, and carefully add dry ingredients. Then ground almonds.
6. Mix until dough forms, and you can form a ball with it.
7. Transfer to counter and form into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap, and flatten into a disk.
8. Chill 1 hr.
9. Preheat oven to 325-degrees F. Divide dough into 3 pieces. Chill unused pieces if dough starts to soften. I didn't chill mine...but it was a cold day today.
10. Roll dough into a log 3/4-inches in diameter. (Easier said than done).
11. Cut log into 1/2-inch lengths. Roll into balls and roll in granulated sugar.
12. Place on baking sheet, and lightly flatten with the palm of your hand.
13. Bake 12-15 minutes, being sure to rotate the pans half way through the baking.
14. Chocolate dipping optional!
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