Chocolate gingerbread sandwich cookie
I have a weakness for chocolate and grab any chance I see to use it in a recipe. Spicy gingerbread seemed like a good combination with chocolate. So I mixed some cocoa powder into the dough for the traditional piparkuka cookies from Latvia and was very happy with the result. The cookies came out a lovely dark color and had a deeper flavor with a hint of chocolate. For some soft sweetness and crunchy freshness I filled the cookies with peppermint butter cream and dipped the edges in festively pink peppermint crumbs. Perfect for Christmas! I rolled out these cookies slightly thicker so that they are stronger and do not break when you fill them. Just out of the oven and these sandwich cookies are crunchy, but after a day they will become a little soft and taste even better!
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Chocolate gingerbread sandwich cookie
for about 25 cookies
65 grams (2 tbs + 2 tsps) of molasses
65 grams (2 tbs + 2 tsps) of muscovado sugar
65 grams (2 tbs + 2 tsps) of honey
2 tbs cocoa powder
100 grams (½ cup) of butter
350 grams (2½ cups) flour
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp coriander
1 egg
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
10 peppermint sticks
200 grams (1 cup) butter
100 grams (1 cup) icing sugar
Melt the molasses with the muscovado sugar, the honey, the cocoa powder and the butter in a pan on low heat. Don’t let the mixture boil.
Add the spices and half of the flour and mix well. Let cool slightly and whisk in the egg. Cool completely and then mix in the remaining flour, the baking powder and the salt.
Knead into a smooth dough and leave to rest in the refrigerator for about 2 hours but preferably one night.
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Roll out the dough very thinly on a piece of baking paper and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter. Bring the rest of the dough together in a ball, roll out again and cut out more cookies. Repeat until all the dough has been used. Place the cookies on a cookie tray coverfed with baking paper. Bake in the middle of the oven for 5-7 min. until lightly browned and done. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking sheet.
Crush the peppermint sticks into crumbs with a pestle and mortar. Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and creamy and mix in half of the peppermint crumbs. Spread some filling on half of the cookies and top with the rest of the cookies. Dip the sides of the cookies in the rest of the peppermint crumbs for a Christmas touch.
This post is also available in: Dutch
