Black and White Espresso Sandwiches
Many of my goodie tray recipients refer to these cookies as “adult Oreos”. I’m not sure quite how accurate that description technically is, but I will say that these do give off a bit of an Oreo vibe visually. The texture is softer for both the cookies and the filling, but you do have a pair of dark chocolate cookies sandwiching a white cream filling. The flavor profile is far more complex than a traditional Oreo cookie. The cookies themselves are craggy and studded with mini chocolate chips and have a light hint of almond. The cream is a true buttercream; soft, creamy and luscious. While white chocolate can often be overly sweet, the espresso and cinnamon in the buttercream balance well with the sweetness of the white chocolate. I personally love the combination of chocolate and coffee and I think the touch of almond and cinnamon in these elevates that classic flavor pairing.
When it comes to baking and assembly, these are one of the simplest recipes of my holiday goody recipes to make. It is a very straightforward cookie dough recipe, the dough is soft enough to shape easily into logs, but isn’t too sticky to work with. The filling is basically an American buttercream, which is arguably the easiest and quickest buttercream variation to make.
While I do like the simplicity of a slice and bake cookie, there can be some shape distortion during the chilling and slicing of the dough. Here are some tips keep the cookies as uniform as possible (which makes it easier and quicker to pair like size/shape cookies for the sandwiches later):
- Put the logs of dough in a cardboard tube to prevent one side of the dough from flattening while it is chilling
- When slicing the dough, turn the log slightly after each cut. This will also help prevent the dough from flattening on one side, creating more uniform cookie shapes
- If any individual slices seem obviously misshapen, take a moment to gently reshape the dough before baking
- Immediately after baking, take a round cookie cutter just slightly larger than the cookies. Place it around a cookie on the baking sheet and gently rotate it around the cookie allowing it to nudge the still-soft cookie into a more uniform shape. Quickly repeat with all the cookies on the baking tray.
As with others of my holiday recipes, this recipe is presented in US Customary measurements, but I have also provided the metric conversion. To ensure the most consistent results, I recommend using the metric measurements and a kitchen scale. I also find that approach reduces the number of kitchen implements I have to clean up when the baking is all done. I am a huge fan of anything that reduces the clean up effort!
Black and White Espresso Sandwiches
Equipment
- 3 Mixing bowls
- Electric mixer (stand or hand held)
- whisk
- measuring cups (or kitchen scale)
- measuring spoons
- baking sheets
- sharp knife
- piping bag
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup cocoa Dutch processed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg large
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips micro or mini
For the filling
- 4 ounce white chocolate melted and slightly cooled
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.1 cup flour, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.8 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar
- Beat in the egg and almond extract until fully incorporated.1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients mixing only until just incorporated; avoid over mixing. Stir in the chocolate chips.1 cup chocolate chips
- Separate the dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion into a log about 12 inches long. Wrap tightly and refrigerate the dough until firm enough to slice.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Cut the logs into 1/4" slices. Place the slices about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies look just barely set. allow to cool on the pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
To make the filling:
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and cream together and until smooth and creamy.6 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- Gradually beat in the melted white chocolate. (Make sure the white chocolate is cooled so it does not melt the butter)4 ounce white chocolate
- Add the espresso powder and cinnamon and beat to combine.1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. The mixture should be creamy but stiff enough to hold peaks.2 cup powdered sugar
To assemble the sandwich cookies:
- Pipe a small amount of the filling on the backs of half the cookies.
- Place a second cookie on top of the filling and press gently until the filling almost reaches the edges of the cookies.
- Store the cookies in an air tight container
Nutrition
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