Recipes Desserts Cookies Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies 5.0 (1) 1 Review Pastry chef Paola Velez's recipe for these chocolate sandwich cookies creates crisp, buttery cookies filled with rich, fluffy milk chocolate ganache. The creamy filling is made with chocolate and butter instead of the usual heavy cream, resulting in a softer ganache. After you bake and form the cookies, have fun decorating them with stripes and squiggles of melted dark chocolate, or dip them into the melted chocolate. Because the ganache is so soft, it's best to keep the cookies refrigerated until a few minutes before serving. By Paola Velez Paola Velez Instagram Paola Velez has been a pastry content creator and influencer since co-founding Bakers Against Racism, a viral advocacy movement. The experienced executive pastry chef was named Pastry Chef of the Year by Esquire and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington in 2020 and a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2021. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on April 28, 2022 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Active Time: 1 hrs Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins Yield: Makes about 50 mini and 25 large sandwich cookies Ingredients For the cookies ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened ⅔ cup powdered sugar ⅓ cup granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ¾ teaspoon vanilla bean paste 4 large egg whites 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour For the whipped ganache 1 cup (about 6 ounces) chopped milk chocolate (36% cacao) 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) softened butter ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt For the decoration 1 cup (about 6 ounces) chopped dark chocolate Rainbow sprinkles or nonpareils (optional) Directions Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat butter, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in a stand mixer with paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl halfway through, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla bean paste. Add egg whites, beating to blend and stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Add flour and mix on low just to incorporate. Transfer batter to a large piping bag. For mini cookies, cut 1/2-inch off pastry bag tip, and for larger cookies, cut off 3/4-inch. Pipe 1 1/2-inch long strips for mini cookies, and 2-inch long strips for larger cookies, onto 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2-inches apart. Bake cookies until bottoms are golden brown but tops remain pale, rotating sheet halfway through, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer cookies and parchment to wire racks and let cool completely. Repeat piping and baking until batter is used up, letting baking sheets cool completely before lining with parchment paper and piping more cookies. Make the whipped ganache: Place milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until fully melted, about 45 seconds. Set aside. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat briefly until smooth. Add melted chocolate to the bowl, and beat briefly to incorporate. Add the vanilla bean paste and salt, and beat until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Transfer ganache to a piping bag. Transfer half of the cookies from rack to a rimmed baking sheet, browned side up. Using sharp scissors, cut a small opening, about ⅜-inch, from tip of piping bag. Pipe filling over cookies. Top with remaining cookies, browned side down. Refrigerate cookies while preparing chocolate garnish. Place 2/3 cup dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until fully melted, about 45 seconds. Add the remaining 1/3 cup chocolate and stir until melted. Spoon into a cornet or piping bag, and snip a very small piece from the tip of the bag. Drizzle chocolate decoratively over cookies as desired; add sprinkles if desired. Refrigerate until set. Store airtight in refrigerator between layers of parchment paper. Let come to room temperature 10 minutes before serving. Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Rate it Print