A bite of winter frost trapped between two chocolate cookies or a classic mint and chocolate combination that will instantly transport you to a winter wonderland. These are soft chocolate mint sandwich cookies frosted with peppermint-infused white chocolate ganache. I’m pretty sure you’re going to love them!
Cut-out Chocolate Cookies
I have adapted my classic sugar cookie recipe for chocolate cookies. When baked correctly, these cookies do not spread in the oven and stay pleasantly soft. Only this time I tried a slightly different technique to ensure the cookies hold their shape perfectly, and I really liked it! It adds an extra step of cooling the rolled dough before cutting the shapes, which sounds optional, but it’s easy to work into a workflow, and, most importantly, it really makes a difference.
Mint White Chocolate Ganache
I was looking for something that wasn’t too sweet and wouldn’t soften at room temperature for the filling, so I chose white chocolate ganache over buttercream. Chocolate is a bit of a tricky substance, but after a lot of testing, ruining some expensive ingredients and getting a few new grey hairs, I can confidently say that this ganache works very well and tastes amazing, just make sure you follow all my tips.
The mint flavor in this ganache comes from a natural peppermint essential oil. It’s a huge concentration of menthol in a small amount, so just ¼ teaspoon will fill the whole kitchen with the smell of peppermint. You can find it in specialized hobby baker shops.
Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies
A bite of winter frost trapped between two chocolate cookies or a classic mint and chocolate combination that will instantly transport you to a winter wonderland. These are soft chocolate mint sandwich cookies frosted with peppermint-infused white chocolate ganache.
- Prep Time1 hr
- Bake / Cook Time10 min
- Rest / Chill Time1 hr
- Total Time2 hr 10 min
- Yield~30 cookies
Ingredients
For Chocolate Cookies
- 220 g / 7,8 oz unsalted butter (softened)
- 200 g / 7 oz granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 medium or large eggs (100-120 g / 3,5-4,2 oz in total without shells)
- 370 g / 13 oz wheat flour (all-purpose or plain)
- 80 g / 2.8 oz cocoa powder (Dutch-processed)
For Mint White Chocolate Ganache
- 200 g / 7 oz white chocolate
- 100 g / 3.5 oz whipping cream (30-35% fat)
- ¼ tsp peppermint oil or extract
Directions
Bake Chocolate Cookies
Cream room temperature butter with sugar and salt until well combined, light, and fluffy (1-2 minutes). If using a stand mixer, stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined.
Sift in flour and cocoa. Mix until there is no dry flour left and the dough comes together. It will be soft but not sticky.
Gather the dough and divide into 4 parts. Shape each piece into a disc and wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one of the discs of dough from the fridge and roll out on a sheet of parchment paper to ~4-5 mm / ~0.15-0.2 inch thickness. Decorate with a textured rolling pin (optional). Place the rolled dough with the sheet of baking parchment on a flat surface in the fridge and chill while you roll out the rest of the dough. You can stack all the rolled out sheets of dough on top of each other, parchment paper will prevent them from sticking.
Remove the first sheet of dough from the fridge and use the cookie cutters to cut out the desired shapes. Repeat with the other sheets, one after the other.
Gather up all the scraps, roll out again and repeat until you run out of dough. Try not to roll the same dough more than 3 times, you can simply bake the last scraps.
Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet. They will puff up slightly in the oven but will not spread, so you do not need to leave a lot of space between them. Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes in the middle of the oven until they are matt on top and dry to the touch. They should still be soft when they come out of the oven.
Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet. Then transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.
Prepare Mint White Chocolate Ganache
Chop the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.
Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to simmer. Do not bring to a boil.
Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover and let stand for 1-2 minutes.
Add the peppermint oil and mix carefully with a spatula or spoon until you get an even shiny texture. If there are some stubborn pieces of chocolate that refuse to melt into the cream, place the bowl over a double boiler and heat the ganache mixture until all the chocolate has melted.
Leave at room temperature for up to an hour to cool and thicken slightly, but don’t let it set completely (see notes)
Whip the white chocolate ganache with a hand mixer on low speed or by hand for about a minute. It will not increase in volume noticeably but will become lighter in color. It should still be soft and not hold the peaks, be careful not to overwhip.
Frost The Cookies
After the cookies have cooled completely, flip half of them, bottom side up, and place about ½ teaspoon of ganache in the center of each cookie. Press unfrosted cookies lightly on top.
Allow frosted cookies to set at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least a few hours or until the ganache is fully set and holds both cookies together.
Enjoy or store in an airtight container for up to one week.
notes
- After adding the flour, don’t mix the dough too long, just until it comes together. Mixing too long will encourage gluten formation and your cookies will be tough.
- Chilling the dough before rolling makes it easier to handle and less sticky. You can refrigerate it wrapped for up to 2 days, but you will also need to thaw it slightly before rolling. You can also freeze the dough for later use.
- Chilling the rolled dough will help you cut the perfect cookie shapes. The dough warms up and becomes softer during rolling, and if you cut shapes out of warm dough, they will distort slightly even when you lift them off the surface. Also, the colder the cookies are when they go into the oven, the better they will hold their shape during baking. If you don’t mind slightly distorted and uneven cookies, you can skip the second cooling step.
- You can make these cookies soft or crunchy. For crunchier cookies bake slightly longer and if you prefer soft cookies, be careful not to overbake.
- Peppermint oils and extracts may vary in strength. You can control the mint flavor in a white chocolate ganache by varying the amount of peppermint oil. But to get strong mint flavor in a finished cookie, the ganache alone must taste very minty.
- While the chocolate ganache is cooling, don’t put it in the refrigerator; let it thicken slightly at room temperature. If your ganache is cold when you start to whip it, whipping will thicken it even more and make it difficult to frost cookies. Piping or squeezing the ganache that is already set will make it look curdled.
- White chocolate ganache is naturally quite yellow and a bit translucent. Whipping it helps to whiten it and make it opaque.
- You can pipe the ganache onto the cookies, but if you choose to do so, work quickly. The ganache will slowly set and thicken at room temperature while you work, so I prefer to keep it in the bowl and use a spoon. Stir the ganache from time to time to make sure it thickens evenly, and if it gets too thick, simply warm it over a saucepan of simmering water. If your ganache thickens too much while it’s in the piping bag, you’ll have a hard time piping it further or warming it evenly.
