Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies & Butter Crispies
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A few weeks ago we had some friends over for a homemade-pizza-and-games night, so of course I had to make some easy-to-hold desserts to munch while we played games. I was stoked to make some chocolate sandwich cookies, but I was a little wary since they include peppermint extract, an ingredient notorious for overpowering anything it's put into. I was hoping I wouldn't be able to find peppermint extract at the shop and would have to use vanilla or coffee extract, but, alas, per the rules I set for myself, I found peppermint extract so peppermint extract it was.
Luckily, the recipe comes from a card with a handful of variations for 'flavor-rich butter cookies' from the Sunday News in 1959, and each variation only takes half a batch of dough... so I had a backup recipe of 'butter crispies' to make in case the peppermint chocolate sandwich cookies went awry.
But go awry they did not... at least not in the way I was expecting. The chocolate cookies came out perfectly-- crisp on the edges, soft in the middle, uniformly-sized thanks to the rolling and chilling, and beautifully dark cocoa brown. I whipped the filling together with the tiniest dash of peppermint, but when I realised it was roughly the consistency of spackle, I started to get nervous. The cookies were fairly brittle, so I was afraid that as I tried to smear them with the thick, dry-ish filling, that the cookies would crack and crumble.
But here I was wrong again-- they did not. Instead, the cookies came out perfectly crisp with the lightest hint of peppermint in the thin swipe of filling. The texture was perfectly buttery with a rich, bittersweet chocolate flavour offset perfectly by the sweet peppermint filling. Judson and I ate them so fast that we nearly ran out before our friends came over, and that texture? Perfect for holding the two thin, crispy cookies together without making them soggy.
I have a hunch these would be just as good with vanilla extract, bourbon, or coffee extract in place of the peppermint extract, but the next time I make them, I'll probably just go straight for the peppermint again... because can you imagine how good these would be with a bowl of ice cream?! Seriously, if you're an Oreo fiend (and, let's be honest, who isn't?), you have to try these. They're grown-up Oreos without all the processed junk, fast, easy, and just as delicious... even if you DO skip the peppermint flavouring.
The butter crispies were even more delicate than the chocolate versions, perfectly crispy with a delicate crumb and a beautiful buttery flavour (this is a recipe worth splurging on the 'good' butter for-- in my case, I used Kerrygold Salted Irish butter, and it definitely shines through)... But I must have chilled the dough too long because I couldn't roll it as thin (1/8 inch!) as the recipe requested, so the cookies puffed and swelled so much that the butterflies turned into X's, the diamonds into rhombuses, and the unicorns to... well, let's not talk about the unicorns. So I would still make the butter crispies again (the perfect blend of soft and crisp! The actual taste of butter in every bite!), but next time I might use all elephant cookie cutters, as these ones seemed unfazed by the swelling... I mean, who hates a fat elephant, right?
The verdict:
Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies:
5 spoons out of five. These were just so perfect and I had no idea I could make something that professional-tasting out of my own kitchen.
Butter Crispies:
4 spoons out of five. Delicious, but a bit more labour intensive since they have to be rolled out. But did I mention they taste just like butter?
the directions:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Cream butter.
Add powdered sugar gradually and cream until fluffy.
Add egg, vanilla, and vinegar if using, and beat well.
Sift together dry ingredients (including cream of tartar if using) and blend into creamed mixture.
Add chocolate and mix until uniform.
Form dough into a roll 2 inches in diameter and wrap tightly in parchment or waxed paper.
Chill until firm.
Using a very sharp knife, slice 1/8-inch thick.
Bake 6 minutes until slightly darker around the edges and firm.
Cool completely before filling.
While cookies are cooling, cream 4 tbsp butter, 2 c sifted powdered sugar, cream, and mint flavouring.
Spread a cookie with the filling then top with a second cookie of similar size.
the ingredients:
the cookies:
8 oz butter
1 ½ c powdered sugar, sifted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tartar or 2 tsp white vinegar
2 ½ c flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled
the filling:
4 tbsp butter
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp cream
¼ tsp peppermint extract
The recipe:
Butter Crispies
the directions:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Cream butter.
Add powdered sugar gradually and cream until fluffy.
Add egg, vanilla, and vinegar if using, and beat well.
Sift together dry ingredients (including cream of tartar if using) and blend into creamed mixture.
Chill until firm.
Roll on a well-floured surface until 1/8-inch thick.
Cut with floured cookie cutters.
Bake 4-6 minutes until just golden around the edges.
Cool on a wire rack.
the ingredients:
the cookies:
8 oz butter
1 ½ c powdered sugar, sifted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tartar or 2 tsp white vinegar
2 ½ c flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt