Thursday, March 10, 2011

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

I had two cookie recipes in mind, and I was trying to decide which one to bake for a party. I called in Kurt to make the final choice. Without even asking for details, he instantly pointed straight at these chocolate mint sandwiches and said: make those. Well, that settled that, not that there was anything wrong with the other option. I knew he’d like the mint, and they do look fetching on the back cover of Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies. They’re thin and crisp chocolate wafer cookies sandwiched with a layer of mint-flavored white chocolate, and this was just one of four ways these cookies were presented in the book. With several of the cookie recipes, Alice Medrich included “upgrades” or variations on the theme. In this case, the base recipe was plain chocolate wafers. The possible upgrades for these were spicy wafers with cinnamon, cayenne, and ground black pepper added to the dough, extra-bittersweet wafers with added ground unsweetened chocolate, and the version I made with white chocolate and mint sandwiched between two wafers.

The dough requires some time in the refrigerator before being cut into cookies which means it can be made well in advance. It was entirely mixed in a food processor. First, flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking powder were pulsed, and then chopped, softened butter was mixed in by pulsing. Last, milk and vanilla were added through the feed tube while the machine was running. The dough was formed into a log, wrapped in parchment, and chilled for at least an hour. Possibly the most difficult part of this recipe was cutting the dough into thin rounds. The log was marked at one inch lengths, and each inch of dough was cut into six skinny, little, fragile cookies. The rounds were baked, and as soon as they came out of the oven, small circles were cut in half of them. I used the big end of a piping tip to cut the circles. When the cookies were cool, white chocolate was melted and mixed with mint extract for the filling. Scant half teaspoons of white chocolate filling were spread on half of the cookies which were topped with the ones with holes.

Naturally, I thought the half teaspoon of filling was not nearly enough. I would have preferred to slather on a thick, generous layer of mint white chocolate, but I was wrong. It was just enough to add sweetness and richness and let the chocolate of the cookies shine through. Kurt made a great choice with this one.



32 comments:

  1. One of favorite flavor combinations. Most of all, I like the presentation. Those off-centered dots are somehow so sophisticated.

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  2. Pretty and surely delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. They look too pretty to eat. I also like how those filled circles are not in the center...it looks better this way plus it's more creative :)

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  4. Wow. Stunning. Love the versatility of these...the possibilities really are endless! Very classy presentation.

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  5. Yum.....chocolate and mint is always a wonderful combination. Such pretty cookies.

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  6. These are stunners! And sounds like a winning combination to me. I had never thought to pair mint and white chocolate before but I'll bet they marry well together. Yay for Kurt!

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  7. What a mint and chocolate treat!! Love it:)
    Looks so cool and delicious

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  8. I think I would love them too because of that white mint flavored chocolate.. :)

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  9. These are like little pieces of modern art. Beautiful! I love that book. I just started baking a few things from it, too. But then again, you can never go wrong with Alice Medrich.

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  10. I have a weakness for chocolate mint - they look stunning!

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  11. Lisa these are ADORABLE! Ooo so thin and crispy! I saw this book at Borders the other day but didn't pick it up, now I have a reason to :)

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  12. Those look fabulous, the perfect ice box cookies. Where's mine?
    I'm doing a give away on my blog for $80 Amazon gift card :), do stop over and enter!
    *kisses* HH

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  13. love these! saw them on tasteologie! how fabulous.

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  14. Terrific cookies! I love the mint white chocolate filling here, so delicious!

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  15. Your cookies not just sounds delicious but also beautiful to look at. Very appealing!

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  16. These look really really cool!!!!

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  17. I think I would have pointed to these too! They look sensational Lisa! :)

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  18. Lovely cookies! I like the off-center dots :-)) Very pretty!

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  19. These are striking! Love the combo of flavors and how you made the dots off center - very unique - I would of never thought to do that.

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  20. Thanks, everyone! Several of you mentioned the off-center holes. I copied that from the look of the cookies on the back cover of the book. Wish I could claim it was my idea, but no!

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  21. Gorgeous, just gorgeous Lisa. Great match of flavours too..., :)

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  22. I have this cookbook sitting next to my bed and this cookie staring up at me all day and night! I'm so glad you liked it because now I'm inspired to make it!

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  23. what a unique look these have! i'm pretty gung-ho about the whole chocolate-mint combo (not to mention recipes making use of the good ol' food processor...). :)

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  24. Wow, I love the combination of mint with chocolate and the pretty off-center holes. I don't make cookies often but I will keep this idea deep in my mind.

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  25. A little chocolate goes a long way in these cookies....

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  26. Those look amazing. I have resisted buying that book because I have a few other cookie books that I like and sometimes I wonder, "how many more variations on cookies can there be?". But yes, I need it. Love your chocolate chopper!

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  27. Very stylish! Those cookies I would offer at a fashion show, an upscale couture show of course!

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  28. Oh wow these look awesome. Kurt has great choice :)

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  29. wow, these cookies are too pretty to be eaten. such an elegant presentation. Thanks for sharing Lisa

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  30. Ok, so I just commented on the fish where I agreed with you about the mounds of to-try recipes. And if you post something like this, of course I have to add it my to-try. Chocolate with mint in a cookie...yup moving to the top of the list!

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  31. I have that book and have had an eye on that recipe for a while now - you're inspired me! Your cookies look perfect!

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