Butterscotch Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

October 12, 2012

butterscotch chocolate sandwich cookies / une gamine dans la cuisine

One of the many ways I'm trying to save the planet is by jotting down recipes and ideas in a little journal. Unless the recipe includes a fantastic Cirque du Soleil feat of baking acrobatics, all I really need to know are the ingredients. (I've also been out of printer ink for months.)

Apparently I need to read what I've actually written down, instead of allowing my mind to fill in the pot holes with panic-induced images of recipe Fail hashtags.

When I made the butterscotch filling for these cookies, it seized up on me. Twice. The third time wasn't quite the charm, but I somehow managed to pull it off. It wasn't until I took another look at the recipe this morning that I realized I'd forgotten to add cream.

Cream.

It was in my notes. I just overlooked it...the same way I sometimes overlook silly editing errors in my blog posts. ;) Sometimes my brain only sees intentions, instead of what's actually There.

butterscotch chocolate sandwich cookies / une gamine dans la cuisine

Filling flop aside, these cookies received a lot of mouth covering, wide-eyed, "these cookies are the best!" remarks.

I love that kind of reaction.

They do look slightly Oreo-ish, but that's where the similarities end. The actual cookies themselves are delightfully rich and unapologetically chocolate. They have a slight softness at the center, which keeps them away from wafer cookiedom.

That mischievous filling was so worth the sinkful of pots! It's butterscotch. Caramel's sweet, but in a Lolita-like way, cousin. It's the perfect, soft companion to the brooding chocolate cookies that surround it.

I wrote out the following recipe correctly. My filling lacked cream, so it never achieved the desired syrupy status whilst cooking. Don't be alarmed if yours looks different. If it looks the same, *phew.* And cheers to the splash of bourbon that's tossed in at the last minute. :)

butterscotch chocolate sandwich cookies / une gamine dans la cuisine

Butterscotch Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
makes about 24-28 sandwich cookies

for the chocolate cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I used 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 (that's 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

for the 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 (that's 1 stick) unsalted butter, divided in half
1 Tablespoon Bourbon
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

method
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.

Prepare the 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.

Devour smugly. 

recipe adapted from Food & Wine

31 comments:

  1. Divine! I'd love to eat a few of those with a coffee...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. The way you described the actual cookies, they sound like chocolate heaven! I love how pretty the sandwiches are and although I've never been a huge fan of butterscotch, if you say it is good, I bet it is!

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  3. Valerie, anyone who compares cookie filling to Lolita is a superstar. I bow to your brilliance.

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  4. Butterscotch is one of my absolute favorite flavors. I think I put homemade butterscotch on everything. I love the idea of it sandwiched between two delish cookies. Great idea!

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  5. I agree with Beth, Love the description of your cookies and the filling- very entertaining and I imagine the cookies were very popular among the taste testers;-)

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  6. they look awesome and about 6 mos ago I was making a melted butterscotch-cream based sauce to then add to some dough and omg I know what you mean about it seizing. So easily. I had a hot.mess.on my hands, literally. Twice. Finally I figured it out but it's tricky stuff but it's worth it b/c I love it so - Id love these!

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  7. @Averie, I'm glad it's not just me! And here I though caramel was the difficult one. :D

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  8. Look at that gorgeous stack of cookies! I could go for one (or two!) right now :).

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  9. Valerie, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that to my recipes and blog writing. Though your writing is so unique I can't imagine you leaving anything out :).I love butterscotch so I know I would adore these cookies! Wonderful photos too!

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  10. I'll toast to that bourbon!

    I can totally relate to occasionally forgetting an obvious ingredient. My mind can drift while baking and cooking which has led to a few forgetful situations. Sounds like yours turned out well in the end though!

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  11. Valerie, :) Same here. I tend to jot down shortcut notes on a li'l pocketbook! We've also been out of printer for months (maybe even a year already) and am too lazy to go get ink (plus, they're so darn expensive, those Canon inks)!

    I see you you've jotted down a really nice little recipe here. And did I mention? Love, love, love your styling as well. Makes me feel like I wanna throw my kids a party for no reason but...these!!!

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  12. The description of these cookies has me dying. They sound amazing! Saving these to make FOR SURE.

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  13. WOW - these cookies look and sound simply amazing! My mouth is watering over those chocolate wafer cookies. Love how you take notes - it is always rewarding to add your own spin to a recipe and consistently work to making it perfect for you.

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  14. Valerie, those look fabulous. And am impressed you gave the filling so many tries. It can be frustrating, can't it? I've made something twice this week, still can't get it right. It's not an error in reading the recipe, however. It's an error with the cook! :)
    (I may give it one more try, but really should be packing!)

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  15. oh man these sound amazing, and i'm totally impressed that you tried the filling three times, i would never have that kind of patience!

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  16. Haha. So uh-mazing! Love to eat them whole. Haha.

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  17. Wow, these look amazing! Butterscotch is so good. I'm sure I would love these! Your hard work has definitely paid off : )

    Danielle xo

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  18. Love chocolate and butterscotch together. These cookies look amazing!

    And I constantly overlook things that are right in front of me!

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  19. I've started doing the same thing. Now I keep a notebook next to my computer to jot down all my notes when inspiration strikes or while I'm preparing a dish. Nothing this pretty has come out of my notebook, though! :)

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  20. I hope that stack of cookie sandwiches is all for me :) These sound and look so darn scrumptious! I'm featuring this post in today's Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution as always). Thanks for continuing to inspire me with your creations...

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  21. First of all, YUM! These are delicious, the cookie part is good but the really special part of this recipe is the filling.

    Some notes for anyone else making these: I substituted half the butter in the cookies with applesauce and it worked fine. I also rolled them out a bit thinner, baked them for slightly less time, and was able to get more cookies out of it.

    Thank you for the great recipe!

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  22. @Anon, I'm so glad you liked the cookies! Your "healthier" version sounds fantastic! :D

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  23. Best with coffee! LOL! Or it can be a frozen yogurt topping. Haha. Love it. :)

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  24. you have no idea how many times I had to re-bake something just coz I couldn't not remember the entire recipe. Now I have a notebook in my baking corner, but it does happen sometimes to forget (guess I'm just getting old)
    Thanks fr the wonderful recipe, just included it in my 100 chocolate recipes

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  25. @Roxana, Thanks for adding these to your chocolate recipe list! :D

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  26. Look so pretty, I'd like to share & and exchange at my annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. Can you freeze these after they are assembled into sandwiches??

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  27. @June, I'm not sure if freezing the assembled cookies would affect the quality...just be sure that they are wrapped extra tight.

    Sorry I can't give you a more definitive answer. It's the filling that concerns me. Maybe you could freeze the baked cookies, thaw them out for a few minutes, and then fill?

    Either way, I hope that they're loved by everyone. :D

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  28. These cookies look and sound amazingly delicious, Valerie. Unapologeticly chocolate is always welcome.

    Good on you for trying the butterscotch filling so many times, I probably would have gone with another recipe.

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  29. oh I have such a difficult time with homemade butterscotch!
    oy!
    hey how is the nepresso going?
    still loving it?

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  30. Dawn, I could not make it through my mornings without that Nespresso machine! :D Thanks for stopping by!

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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