We've been on a butterfly theme lately, what with these cute tea sandwiches, and this fun puzzle. . .
. . . why not continue the theme with something sweet. . .
. . . and chocolaty. . .
. . . filled with raspberry cream cheese frosting and topped with. . .
. . . an adorable and simple little butterfly stencil. . .
. . . these beauties won't last long with your kiddos!
Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies:
Makes about 18 sandwich cookies
Recipe adapted from here
Cookies:
- 1 cup butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Filling:
- 4 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3 oz of butter (room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons raspberry jam (if you can find it try one only sweetened with fruit juice as they have a slightly more tart flavor)
- 1/4-3/4 cup powdered sugar (sweeten to taste)
Cream the butter and the sugar for the cookies together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the extracts and whisk until fully incorporated.
Sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold in until completely combined, but do not over mix. You will have a sort of crumbly dough at this point (see image above).
Pour out the dough onto a sheet of parchment and, using the paper, roll into a log about 2" in diameter. Freeze until solid (about an hour).
While the dough is freezing make the filling. Whisk together the cream cheese and the butter. Add the jam and then slowly add the sugar until you reach the desired sweetness. Keep in mind that the chocolate cookies are fairly sweet, so keeping this filling a bit tart gives a nice balance. Refrigerate the frosting after mixing.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
When the dough is frozen, use a sharp knife to cut slices that are just a hair thicker than 1/8". Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze again for 10 minutes prior to baking.
Bake for 8 minutes or until the cookies look set and the chocolate is fragrant. Do not over bake. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cookies are cooling, cut out a butterfly shape in a square of parchment that is bigger than the cookies (making sure the butterfly shape is smaller than the cookies). Use this stencil to dust butterfly shapes on the cookies after you make them into sandwiches with the filling.
Then, invite your kid's friends over for a butterfly tea party!
xox
~i.c.
