Chocoholic: Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

Because Santa could be a chocoholic [Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Around this time of year, the inn that I worked at many years ago used to host a holiday tree lighting on their front lawn. As pastry chef and resident cookie elf, I'd be responsible for baking close to a thousand cookies for the event. Some might find that kind of a task a chore, but for some reason I get a lot of pleasure from turning out cookies in high volume. From composing the cookie list to seeing the cookies all neatly arranged on platters, it just never felt like work.

Among my favorite cookies from the trays were the chocolate on chocolate versions. When tossed into a cookie assortment, anything doubly chocolatey stands out as the gem, and never fails to be the first to get swiped up. Chocolate on chocolate is pure decadence. Take these chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies—crisp, buttery, chocolatey shortbread is already a super rich, appealing cookie. But sandwich that together with a luscious piping of creamy, ultra dark chocolate ganache? Now this is a cookie that will make any chocolate cookie lover weak.

To make these cookies even more irresistible, I pulled out an adorable flower shaped cutter from my bento box cutter collection. After cutting out the cookies from the rolled dough and placing them on the baking sheets, I used the back end of a pastry tip to cut out the center of half of the cookies. That way, the pretty swirl of ganache would show through the top cookie. If you want to go over the top, dip the edge of the finished cookie in melted chocolate. And if you're looking to really jazz them up for the holidays, do what I like to do: dunk the chocolate-dipped cookie in sprinkles.

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Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies »

About the Author: Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Easy Artisan Bread. You can also watch her culinary stylings on the America's Test Kitchen television show. She presently lives in Singapore as a freelance writer for Time Out Singapore. Check out her blog: shophousecook.com . Follow Yvonne on Twitter.

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