You guys. I’m on this cookie kick. I’ve been baking all sorts of cookies lately but had to share one that isn’t even mine! I love America’s Test Kitchen (ya know all those product reviews? SO helpful!). It’s like I have a mini team of researchers in my kitchen. 
These cookies are sooooo good. I needed lots of o’s to tell you that. You know me – I love chocolate. And when it involves chocolate inside and out, winner winner chicken dinner. These have a Ganache filling and are drizzled with chocolate on top. If you haven’t experimented with different types of chocolate, THIS is the recipe to try. Most people are very familiar with semi-sweet chocolate, but here bittersweet chocolate is used. Make sure not to use chips – they have less cocoa butter in them and therefore do not melt. Which is perfect for cookies, but not for recipes that you want the chocolate to melt.
What I love about these, is you can freeze them before filling them. Say you need to bring a dessert to a gathering, or a church potluck, or it’s Monday – you can grab these out of your freezer, whip up some Ganache, and voila! Problem solved.
These would even be good without the filling. If you’re not a huge chocolate fan (what?! You mean there are people who don’t like chocolate??), you could simply omit the filling and drizzling and munch on them with a cup of tea.
Also. Do not leave out the espresso powder. For the longest time I wouldn’t use it because I do not like coffee. I thought it would make everything taste like coffee. Blech. But the espresso powder simply increases the richness of the chocolate flavor. My favorite place to buy it is here.
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Hazelnut Espresso Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
- 2 1/2 cups|12.5 ounces flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups|8.75 ounces superfine sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 4 teaspoons espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Process the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and ground hazelnuts together in a bowl. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and yolk, one at a time, espresso powder, and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Transfer dough to the counter and divide in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Adjust racks to upper middle and lower middle positions and preheat oven to 375. Line to rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. Roll 1 disk to 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured surface. using 2 1/4 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 30 circles; space circles 1/2 inch apart on prepared sheets. Gently reroll scraps once to get 30 cookies (dough will soften too much and spread when baked if too warm). Bake until edges are slightly browned, about 7 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Cool completely before frosting.
For the filling:
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Place 1 3/4 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate in a bowl and then pour hot cream over chocolate. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes (do not stir yet). Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth. Refrigerate ganache, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 40 minutes.
- Spread 2 teaspoons of ganache over one cookie and top with remaining cookie. Microwave remaining chocolate at 50% for 2-4 minutes, stirring often. Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies and let set about 30 minutes before serving. Will keep about 3 to 4 days in sealed container.
Notes
- Be sure to use bittersweet chocolate bar, not the chips. Chips contain less cocoa butter which allows them to keep their shape when baking.
- If you wish to melt your chocolate on the stove, be sure it’s in a double boiler (or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water), and do not allow any water to touch the chocolate. The moisture causes the chocolate to seize and become grainy. If you’ve ever had this happen, you know the chocolate cannot be fixed.
Keywords: chocolate, hazelnut, cookies
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