Countdown to Christmas Day 8: Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Countdown to Christmas continues with another cookie recipe! The cookies I am about to share with you are very very important...not only because they contain chocolate & icing, not only because they are extremely cute and very delicious, not only because they are a festive treat you can take to a holiday party, but because I am entering them into the Mrs. Kringles Cake 'N Crumbs Holiday Cookie Bakeoff Competition! So if I could ask one Christmas Wish of all my fantastic blog followers this Christmas it is that you VOTE for my Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies.


I came across this cookie contest when looking at one of my favorite blogs I follow daily, Picky Palate, which mentioned the cookie bakeoff being hosted by Tongue N Cheeky. Once I read the rules and the prize full of all kinds of baking goodies for this competition I knew I had to take a chance and enter a cookie recipe. So I started thinking about what ingredients I would want in my favorite cookie...chocolate of course, ooey gooey icing for added SUGAR and sprinkles to give it an extra special touch.


My friend Molly had just brought me the Martha Stewart Holiday Sweets magazine so I thought I would flip through this for some inspiration...afterall how can you go wrong with anything made by Martha! Sure enough Martha had just what I was looking for Chocolate Sandwich cookies filled with a layer of icing! So I decided to take on the challenge of conquering one of Martha's mouthwatering cookie recipes but put my own personal holiday twist on it by cutting the cookies in Christmas Tree and Candy cane shapes and rolling the icing edges into sugar crystals and crushed up peppermint for an extra special touch!


Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart Holiday Sweets magazine)

Makes 15 sandwich cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 large egg
1/2 tesapoon pur vanilla extract
Filling (recipe follows)
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
Sugar crystal sprinkles
Crushed candy canes

• Line baking sheets with parchment paper; lightly coat with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and confectionrs' sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mxer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating to combine. Divide dough in half; form into disks, and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
• Working with one disk at a time, roll out dought to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using christmas tree and candy cane cookie cutters, cut out shapes transferring to prepared sheets (1 inch apart) as you work. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. Brush off excess flour. Gather together scraps, roll, chill, and cut out more shapes.
• Preheat overn to 325 degrees. Bake cookies, roatating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Spread a small amount of filling on half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies; gently press to adhere. Assembled cookies can be refrigerated up to 2 days in an airtight container.

Filling

Makes 1 cup (enough for 15 sandwich cookies)

To make more than one flavor of filling, divide the butter mixture among small bowls (one for each flavor) and reduce the flavoring ingredients accordingly.

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
mint extract
peppermint extract

• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar, and beat until light and fluffy.
• Divide the filling into two bowls.
  
• In bowl one: add a drop of mint extract and a drop of green food coloring to be used for the Christmas tree cookie filling.
• In bowl two: add a drop of peppermint extract and a drop of red food coloring to be used for the candy cane cookie filling.
• Roll the Christmas tree cookies into clear sugar crystals so they stick to the green icing and give a glistening snowlike affect.
• Roll the candy cane cookies into crushed up candy canes to enhance the peppermint flavor of these cookies.

Sandwich cookies have been assembled and are ready for tasting! Don't you wish you were in my kitchen tonight to enjoy one of these cookies with me?


So I hope you will feel that these Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies are worthy of winning the Mrs. Kringles Cake 'N Crumbs Holiday Cookie Bakeoff. Please cast your vote for my cookies by visiting Tongue N Cheeky and leaving a comment about my cookies. Thanks for your support! Hope you have a very safe and happy holiday season!