My father mottos in life were, “If it isn’t chocolate it isn’t dessert” (Ira Blitzsten) and “Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, I lay down and wait until it passes” (Robert Hutchins). These cookies were his favorites.

Chocolate cookies are problematic. Too much chocolate or cocoa and they are soft. Not enough and they lack a deep chocolate flavor. I have tried many a chocolate sandwich cookie recipe and I always circle back to this one. Somehow these cookies have the sandy texture of a sable and a deep chocolate flavor. Eaten alone they are lovely. Sandwiched with raspberry jam they are sublime. The jam does soften them but you won’t mind and they are just big enough so you can pop the whole thing in your mouth.

I would also try orange marmalade, apricot jam or a little coffee ganache (white chocolate ganache flavored with coffee), but for me raspberry jam brings special memories of my dad who passed away in 2008.

This is a soft dough and you can use a pastry bag to pipe it but I find it a bit faster and more uniform to use a cookie press. When filling the press you can either drop in bits of dough until you fill it up or use some Saran Wrap to make a little log a bit narrower than the tub and the same length. Then you can just slip the roll into the tube and you don’t have to worry about air pockets. The cookie press is easier for kids and they can help you press out the cookies. Make sure the cookie sheets are cold. They grip the cookie as it comes out of the press so it doesn’t lift off the pan when you pull the press up.

INGREDIENTS

• 8oz (1 cup) unsalted butter (Don’t use a butter with a fat content above 82% or the texture of the dough will not be correct. These cookies were tested with Land O Lakes. I did try Kerry Gold at one point and the butter fat content was too high. The cookies were soft and greasy).
• 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 4 oz 55-60% bittersweet chocolate (don’t use a chocolate with a higher cocoa butter content or the cookies will spread too much. I used my favorite 70% Lindt with this recipe and it was a disaster).
• 10 oz bleached all purpose flour
• 1T dutched cocoa powder
• 1/4tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/2 a jar of Raspberry preserves (I use Bon Maman and boil it for about a minute so until the consistency thickens upon cooling)

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.
2. Melt chocolate and cool to room temperature. It should still be liquid.
3. Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer, scraping down occasionally. You can make these by hand with a whisk if your butter is soft enough. Aim for smooth and creamy, not airy. An airy dough will not hold its shape so you want a compact dough. Also, this dough doesn’t do well in a food processor so don’t use one).
4. Add yolks one at a time beating well after each addition.
5. Add chocolate and scrape down bowl.
6. Add flour all at once and stir gently by hand until just incorporated.
7. immediately fill your pastry bag and press out shapes on to a chilled sheet pan covered with a silpat. The piping has to be done right away. If you wait it becomes impossible to pipe and also difficult even with the cookie press. If you’re using a cookie press, the dough has to be just right. You may have to wait u til the dough isn’t so soft. You can carefully chill it in the refrigerator if the details from the disc are not crisp.
8. Freeze the cookies. Once they are frozen you can package them in an air tight container and keep them frozen for a few weeks. You can bake them from the frozen state. I think they maintain a better shape this way.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
10. When cookies are cool pipe about 1/2 teaspoon of preserves onto half of the cookies. Sandwich them together with the bare halves.

Cheers Poppy Boy! I’m sitting in the family room looking at the rain soaked garden and wishing you could enjoy these cookies with me.

© Julie de Lara and onemorebitedelara.com 2018