Brownie Sandwich Thins ~ Heart Shaped Cut Out Cookies
Mar 26, 2017, Updated Dec 20, 2020
Make these special cookies for Valentine’s Day – your choice of two fillings. Red walnuts make them special.
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, European-style, high butterfat
- ¾ cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
- ⅓ cup chopped bittersweet chocolate, or bittersweet chips
- 1 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon expresso powder
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon himalayan sea salt
- ¼ cup cocoa, such as Valrhona (dutch processed)
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ½ cup red walnuts, chopped Make dough a day ahead and freeze in 2 sheets.
Instructions
- Melt the 2 chocolates in microwave in a medium sized bowl. Stir - add 1 c. coconut palm sugar and expresso powder, set aside. Cream butter and confectioner's sugar well in a stand mixer. Add the cooled chocolates, mix. Add eggs, on at a time, then vanilla and salt. Add the cocoa, flour and 1/4 cup of the walnuts. Mix together gently. Refrigerate until cold.
- Separate dough in half, roll each - between two sheets of waxed paper - 1/4" thin. Freeze until very cold. Overnight is best. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet with butter.
- Place on countertop. Cut heart shapes - about 24 cookies, 3" heart shape. Top each cookie with a little remaining chopped red walnuts, (looks pretty) press in. Can make dough a day ahead and freeze in 2 sheets. Bake just 5 minutes, crisp around edges, soft in center. After cookies cool a few minutes, remove to a wire rack. Make filling & sandwich the cookies; use about 2 t. of filling in each. Cookies keep well in an airtight container. Once filled, enjoy them within a day, or refrigerate.
- Easy Caramel Filling: 3/4 cup Nestle La Lachera (Dulce De Leche.) Caramel in a can. Mix with 2 t. vanilla bean paste and a grinding of himalayan sea salt in a small bowl. Set aside at room temperature. Fills about 12 cookie sandwiches.
- Raspberry-White Chocolate Filling: Heat 4T. heavy cream in a medium sized, 2 cup bowl in a microwave until very warm. Add 2 ounces of chopped white chocolate. Stir to melt. Refrigerate 30 minutes until cold. Whisk in 2T. raspberry puree* and 5T. confectioner's sugar. Cover, refrigerate until very cold and firm (at least 2 hours.) Fills about 12 cookie sandwiches. * Raspberry Puree: Measure 1/4 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen) and place in a small bowl. Sprinkle with 1T. sugar. Let sit to soften. Stir, remove and discard the seeds by pressing the raspberries through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Use the puree for the filling, will have a little extra.
This recipe may not be reproduced without the consent of its author, Karen Sheer.