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Friday, July 15, 2011

Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies


Before even taking a bite into them, my mom introduced these cookies to me as “the best cookies in the world”. I paused. Whoa. That’s quite a statement. One I hesitate to make, especially on the blog, for fear of setting people’s expectations too high, only to have them disappointed. Still, I trust my mom and take her opinions seriously, so I bit in. I chewed. I swallowed. And then, I smiled.

Two weeks later, I made them again. 

There are a lot of good cookie recipes on this blog, but this absolutely ranks up there as one of the best. These super sweet cookie sandwiches are not for the faint of heart. It may be one of the only cookies I’ve made that I’ve been able to stop at one. But there is something irresistible about the tender sugar cookies sandwiched around the raspberry white chocolate ganache.

Everything about these—the texture, the flavor, the scent—is satisfying…make them and don’t be surprised if others declare them “the best cookies in the world”!



One Year Ago: Grilled Pork Chops with Fresh Nectarine Salsa


Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies


Ingredients:
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups plus 2 tsp sugar
-1 large egg
-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
-6 oz (1 cup) fresh raspberries
-7 1/2 oz. best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
-1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. Mix butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add egg, extract, and vanilla seeds; mix until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture.
3. Scoop batter using a 1-inch ice cream scoop; space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake cookies 4 minutes. Remove from oven; gently tap baking sheets on counter to flatten cookies. Return to oven, switching positions of sheets; bake until cookies are just set, 4-6 minutes more. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.
5. Puree raspberries and remaining 2 tsp sugar in a food processor. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl, pressing to extract juice; discard seeds. Set mixture aside.
6. Melt white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat; whisk in cream in a slow stream. Whisk in reserved raspberry mixture. Refrigerate mixture for several hours or overnight.
7. Spread 1 heaping teaspoon raspberry cream on the undersides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.