Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Written by joythebaker on December 3, 2009 – 1:44 am -
There are things I allow myself to buy… things like new jeans, the occasional pair of fancypants shoes, milk, butter, frozen yogurt and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Ok… to be honest, I allow myself to buy a lot of things.
There are things that I do not, under any circumstances, allow myself to buy: Oreos. Double Stuff Oreos. Yes, it may sound silly, but I am not allowed to buy Oreos. It’s a rule. In my brain. That makes it real.
Why the silly strict Oreo rule? About ten years back, when I was the all-knowing eighteen year old that brazenly moved out of my parents’ house and across the country, I realized that I had to find a way to feed myself. Not a problem. Just go to the grocery store, right? Suuure. I took myself to the grocery store and bought every single bit of junk food that my parents’ had (wisely) withheld from me for eighteen years. Chesee puffs, orange soda, fruit roll-ups and Oreos… sooo many Oreos. It turns out, a girl can live on Oreos alone…. for about a week… and then comes an epic Oreo hangover that is not to be forgotten.
So. Fine. No more Oreos.
No more store bought Oreos. Homemade Oreos with a touch of peppermint? That’s ok, right? Totally ok! Are you in? Heeeeck yes! It’s December. Let’s milk this chocolate and peppermint thing while we have the chance.
You might remember these cookies. I’ve made them before with an espresso filling. Delicious.
This time around I opted for a lightly pepperminted white chocolate filling. Combined with the salty, crunchy, chocolate cookie… divine.
Here are a few tips when making these cookies:
Don’t make the dough until you’re ready to use it. It does not need to be refrigerated. It goes straight from the mixing bowl to the counter to roll out.
Make sure the butter is at room temperature and cut into small chunks to mix into the dry ingredients… otherwise the cookies won’t bake up right. Weird but true.
When making the filling, Chop the chocolate as fine as you can. Even if you’re lazy like me… keep chopping. This will insure that all of the chocolate melts when the hot cream is poured over it. I don’t like lumps. I’m assuming that you don’t like lumps either.
To fill the cookies you can use either a pastry bag or a 1/2 teaspoon. Both work!
Homemade Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
adapted from The Essence of Chocolate
makes about 3 dozen cookies (mine batch came closer to two dozen for some reason)
For the Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract (depending on how strong you want it)
For the Cookies:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup plus 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
15 Tablespoons (7 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, but into 3/4-inch cubes, at room temperature (this is important)
For the Filling:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped white chocolate and peppermint extract. Make sure all the chocolate is covered by the cream. Let stand for 1 minute (this is important), then whisk the white chocolate until completely melted.
Transfer the filling to a small bowl and let stand until room temperature. You’
ll need the filling thicker to assemble the cookies, so cover the filling and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or an hour, until a thick consistency is reached. If the filling hardens too much, it can be rewarmed in the microwave for a few seconds. It’s best if left at room temperature until the proper consistency is achieved. This meant leaving it out overnight for me.
For the Cookies:
Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter a few pieces at a time. The mixture will have a sandy texture at first and then will begin to form peddle-size pieces. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop the mixer. Make sure all the butter is well incorporated. If there are large butter pockets, mix for a few seconds more.
Form and roll the dough straight from the mixer. The dough becomes hard to work with if chilled.
Transfer the dough to a board and use the heel of your hand or a pastry scraper to shape the dough into a block about 5 by 7 inches. Cut the block into two pieces.
One at a time, roll each block of dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut into 2 inch rounds. Place 1/2 to 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. You can form and roll the dough scraps once after the first roll.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the baking. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheets for 2 to 5 minutes. They’ll be too soft to move straight from the oven. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
To Assemble the Cookies:
Place half of the cookies upside down on a work surface. Whip the filling lightly with a whisk to loosen it. It will lighten in color and fluff up. Don’
t overwhip or the filling may begin to separate.
Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip. You can just scooped the filling out by the half teaspoonful. Pipe or dollop one teaspoon of filling in the center of each upside down cookie. Gently, using your fingers, press the cookies together until the filling comes just to the edges.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Holiday, In the Kitchen, Recipes | 97 Comments »
[...] a great time of fun for me as I play with new recipes and continue perfecting old favorites. These chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies from Joy the Baker are currently topping my list of must-try cookies this holiday season. They [...]
Joy, you’re my hero.
Everything looks so great, these cookies look top. I wanted to thank you for my Christmas goodie bags last year! I made your red velvet black and white cookies and got great reviews!
Happy holidays!
never mind I just wasn’t being patient enough, that happens a lot!! Thanks Joy they smell delicious.
I can’t buy oreos either, but I could certainly try these!
[...] ~Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies made by Joy the Baker [...]
Oh my gosh! We bought Candy Cane oreos this year, and they are SOOOOO good. If I amke these, we are done for.
In short, we are done for.
Wow!! good recipe for Christmas!! definitely will try it!!! hahah
These LOOK and Sound Delicious! I can’t wait to try them and eat them all in one sitting.. O.k. Maybe two sittings.
Ummm yes please! I’m not much of a baker…but I’m definitely going to slyly send this recipe my girlfriends way…hopefully she’ll get the hint cause damn these look good!
Great pics too!
Whoa. I made these last night and took them to work today. It is safe to say I am exponentially more popular. Thanks Joy!
Are you going to be participating in “Eat My Blog”, the charity bake sale benefiting the LA Food Bank tomorrow in WEHO?
Boo… I didn’t know about this! I won’t be in town this weekend, so it looks like I’m going to miss this awesome sounding event!
oh yum!! i’ll have to try these and the espresso version soon! hubby looooves oreos and can basically crush a package within two days!! this will save us lots of money for sure! haha!
Perfect! As always a delicious treat! Thanks Joy!
Just found your blog, and love it! Must make cookies, and muffins and waffles and bacon and ……
I LOVE chocolate and peppermint. I can’t wait to try these! How about dipping half in melted chocolate and then sprinkling crushed candy canes on that?! Yum!
I have the same rule-it’s totally okay if I make it myself. These look delicious!!!
This is the first homemade oreo recipe I’ve seen that doesn’t use shortening! I’ve always wanted to try them, but I can’t bring myself to use shortening! These should be perfect!
I don’t really know if its a pre-christmas thing, but tons of people have been talking about homemade oreos – from browneyedbaker, smittenkitchen, and now you!
Amazing. Do these come out crunchy or a bit of on the softer side? I’m having a difficult time what filling I’d want! the espresso one of this white chocolate! Nevertheless, all of them look amazing :O
i meant “with the espresso filling OR this one made up of white chocolate”
excited!!!
I saw your photo next to mine on Foodgawker today, hooray! I love being in excellent company.
This looks fabulous! I make a mint oreo (ironic oreo is a four letting word, huh!!) cheesecake, and it would be even more fabulous if I made the cookies from scratch too! Great recipe!!
These are just as tasty as they look! I made a batch tonight. While I worked on these I also had the creamy tomato soup cooking on the stove.
Can you have ever to much JOY in your life?
I think not!!
Holy cow! These bad boys are rich! That’s a good thing since it will keep me from consuming them all!
These look amazing and if they keep you away from store bought Oreos then I have to try them! The pepperminty filling sounds delicious…they may turn out to be a holiday favorite of mine!
Wow, these look amazing. I am putting these on the Christmas-baking list For Sure!
Hi, Joy!
So, I don’t know how it took me so long to stumble upon your blog . . . but I’m in love, no joke. I can’t wait to read more!!! And these chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies look amazing. I’ll be trying them out soon!
<3 Ashley M.
[...] Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies :: Joy the Baker [...]
I made these yesterday, and they are AMAZING. By far the best cookies I’ve made in a long time! Thank you for such a rockin’ idea!
These look delicious! I think I will make these for a Christmas cookie exchange my girlfriends and I do every year. Thanks for the recipe!
The method is pretty cool – it’s like a pastry crust method, only with more sugar. And no egg, huh? Funky! I can’t wait to see how these turn out!
Ok, so when I read recipes, I automatically veto anything requiring the use of parchment paper. Because that usually means it’s way to difficult for me. But, silly me, I didn’t read the recipe all they way through, I just looked at the pretty pictures.
We’ll, I substituted foil for parchment, and a tall glass for a rolling pin, and everything turned out spectacularly!
I waited until my trusty kitchen buddy was here to help and we made a double batch, one peppermint, one espresso. Both are overwhelmingly chocolaty, and require a glass of milk, but the filling is the absolute perfect compliment, and we had a ball making them
[...] Peppermint Sandwiches I’ve never made anything like this before and they sound amazing… just like big, soft Oreos. And speaking of [...]
Hi Joy! I just got back from a trip halfway around the world but I must. Make. These. I’d just like to second the question above, does it matter if the cocoa is Dutch-process or not?
oh sweet goodness, i need these in my life!
i just took these cookies out of the oven, although i am opting for plain filling due to some picky members of the household. i made the salted chocolate vanilla bean cookies earlier this week… thank you so much for all the great recipes and the pictures that make me want to make/eat them all!
[...] Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies :: Joy the Baker [...]
[...] of two recipes to come up with this holiday winner. I used the chocolate cookie recipe from Joy the Baker’s version. I was drawn to her description of the cookie being a combo of salty and sweet (which I [...]
[...] i love chocolate & peppermint together, especially in cookie form [...]