Sugar cookies are so versatile, they can really be made in any shape and color. I’ve even used this recipe to make stained glass or window cookies and it worked like a charm. Icing and sprinkles can make for a really cute cookie but these cookies are delicious fresh out of the oven, just simple and classically delicious. I have dyed my sugar cookie dough before to make patriotic cookie pops and loved how those looked. I thought that ombre heart sugar cookies would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.
I started by mixing up a batch of my perfect sugar cookie dough. Then I divided into three parts; you can do this by eye, but they happen to be 1 pound each if you have a kitchen scale. Then I used Americolor gel paste to dye each piece of dough. I used deep pink, hot pink, and tulip red to achieve these colors.
Starting with the darkest color, I cut out large hearts. Then I cut out the centers using a medium heart shaped cutter. I set those aside. On a second piece of parchment paper, I rolled out the medium colored dough. I used the medium sized cookie cutter and cut out lots of hearts. Then I used the smallest heart shape cutter to cut out the centers. I put these hearts into the freezer while I worked on the smallest hearts. On a third piece of parchment, I rolled out the lightest pink dough and cut out the smallest hearts. Place these in the freezer as well. Now it’s time to assemble.
Start with the largest hearts, insert the frozen medium sized hearts inside. Then insert the smallest hearts in the center. Bake for about 8 minutes; the separate colors will bake together, forming a solid cookie. I realized I could make the ombre go both ways, from light to dark, and from dark to light, and that would use up all of the dough equally. The center color remains the same. You just need to roll half of the darkest color out and cut it with the largest heart cutter. Use the other half of the darkest color for the smallest heart. Then repeat with the lightest color of dough.
I can’t decide which pattern I like better, they are both so cute! I’m glad I went with both, that way I don’t have to choose.
My son Charlie really enjoys these cookies. He couldn’t wait for his turn to be in the picture!
It’s time for the second biggest food holiday of the year; Superbowl Sunday! I love coming up with fun desserts to celebrate the big game. Last year I piped my regular whoopie pie batter into fun football shapes and made football whoopie pies. This year I wanted to make a crispy chocolate sandwich cookie. I used this recipe from Sweetapolita as my starting point at tweaked it to my version dairy-free. The cookie has a rich, intense dark chocolate flavor with just the right amount of sweetness. The dough is really easy to work with, it rolls out really nicely, cuts like a dream, and doesn’t spread at all in the oven. This was exactly the cookie I was looking for. Once the cookies were baked, they were just begging for a filling. I thought about going with a simple vanilla cream filling reminiscent of an Oreo, but that was a little too similar to my whoopie pies so I went in the opposite direction. I added to the chocolate decadence by making a non-dairy chocolate ganache filling. To make the ganache dairy-free I used coconut milk in the place of heavy cream (similar to my salted caramel sauce) and it worked wonderfully. The coconut flavor is not detectable, it just gives the ganache the perfect smooth and creamy texture. The chocolate was delicious but needed a little something to cut through the intensity so I added a hint of mint extract and created a perfect dessert for any Superbowl party!
Here’s how I piped the laces onto the cookies to create the cute footballs, enjoy!
Chocolate Sandwich Cookies With Mint Chocolate Ganache
Author: Lil' Miss Cakes
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 30
Ingredients
Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
½+2 Tbs. dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
Mint Chocolate Ganache
¾ cup full-fat coconut milk
12 oz. (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp. corn syrup
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp, peppermint extract
Instructions
Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add in flour, cocoa, and salt, and mix on low speed until the dough comes together.
Roll the dough out on parchment paper, cut out shapes, and remove excess dough.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before filling.
Mint Chocolate Ganache
Prepare a double boiler: heat about 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once the water is simmering, place a heatproof bowl over the pan. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.
Place the coconut milk, chocolate, and corn syrup into the bowl and stir until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and mint extracts.
Allow the ganache to cool for several hours until thickened and ready to spread. Once the ganache is thick, spread or pipe onto the bottom of one cookie and sandwich together with a second cookie.
It is so hard for me to pick my favorite posts of the year, I put my heart into everything I make, and am really in love with everything I share. Here are some highlights from 2013, starting with my most popular post of the year, this baby Mickey First birthday cake.
This recipe for crispy peanut butter cups was shared with me by my sister-in-law. She gave me a basic outline of how she does it and I wrote down measurements so that I would be able to replicate them perfectly every time. They are the perfect non-dairy and no bake snack to keep in the freezer for those late night cravings!
This recipe for whoopie pies is one of my most requested treats. They are reminiscent of the classic snack cake Devil Dogs, but are way better! Plus they are non-dairy. I decided to make them in football shapes to celebrate the Super Bowl, but I usually just make them round. Either way, they are delicious!
Designer Handbag Cake
This cake was a challenge to make. It was my first handbag cake I was ever asked to make, and I couldn’t pass on the challenge. At the time, I didn’t really have any instructions, so I just made it up as I went along, and it came out better than expected! I still can’t believe I made this, and that it’s all edible! Donna absolutely loved it, and so did I.
Ombre Ruffle Cake
This is one of my favorite cakes that I ever made. It might have to do with the fact that I made it to celebrate my sister-in-law’s bridal shower (hi Miriam)! Her wedding color was purple, and since she didn’t pick a specific shade, I thought it would be super cute to do the whole thing in ombre, that way every shade was represented. I think she still has the edible gum paste flowers.
Angry Birds Cake
I can’t go through a favorite list without mentioning this Angry Birds cake I made to celebrate Aviv’s 4th birthday. It was so much fun to make, I am thrilled with the results! The color scheme is really perfect and the cake is just so much fun to look at. Aviv is still talking about his birthday cake!
Knaidel Cake
This cake was just so cool to make. Arvind from Queens, NY (my home town) won the Scripps National Spelling Bee-congrats!! His teacher asked me to make him a special cake to celebrate with his classmates. He was so surprised when I showed up with this custom cake depicting the winning word: knaidel. He even took the little gum paste figure home with him! Congrats again!
Minnie Mouse Clubhouse Cake
I love this cake because it was one of the tallest cakes I have ever made! It was really fun to bring Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse to life for a cute little 2 year old birthday girl. Happy Birthday Libby!
Ballerina Bat Mitzvah Cake
Here is another insanely tall cake that I made this year. This one also happened to be super heavy, and I carried it by myself! This one was made to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah with a ballet theme. The birthday girl wanted the cake to match her theme but tastefully done. Mazel Tov Courtney!
Stacked Luggage Wedding Cake
This was my first luggage cake I have ever made, and it was for a wedding! Talk about pressure, but I think I did a pretty good job. All the buckle details really bring this cake to life. Since then, I have made at least two more pieces of edible luggage, and I can’t wait to make more!
Teacher Retirement Cake
I wanted to share at least one stacked book cake that I have made and this was the perfect one. It was made for a teacher celebrating her retirement. Her husband surprised her with it, and she was shocked! She even emailed me to thank me for it afterwards. Congrats Judy!
Pirate Birthday Cake
This cake was made pretty last minute for a special birthday boy. His dad really wanted him to have a special Jake and the Neverland Pirates cake so I couldn’t say no. I am so glad I made this cake, because it came out even better than I imagined! The kids at the party loved eating the edible gold doubloons. Happy Birthday Harry!
This next cake was fun, but my favorite part was the edible Chobani Greek Yogurt container that adorned the cake. All the details were hand painted, after it was done, I almost didn’t want to give it away!
I am usually busy with lots and lots of cakes, but I also do love developing recipes. For the once in a lifetime holiday of Thanksgivukkah, I made these pumpkin doughnuts with marshmallow graham crcker glaze, and they were amazing! I might have to make them again, just because.
The last recipe I decided to share this year is also one for my favorite chocolate chip cookies. After almost 3 years of blogging, I can’t believe I have never shared it with you before! It is my go to recipe for a delicious and comforting treat. I hope you enjoyed this roundup as much as I did; it has been a fun year, filled with cakes, recipes, and photography that just keeps getting better and better. Happy New Year!
