Dark Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Peppermint Schnapps Ganache

Any chocolate lovers out there? These soft, rich, creamy cookies sandwiched with velvety smooth white chocolate ganache will quench your craving for dark and white! And the Peppermint Schnapps adds that "Oh Yeah, can I have another, please!" They make a fantastic gift for the Holidays and a tasty addition to the dessert table at your office party or at dinner with family and friends. 

Ganache is the French term for a smooth mixture of heavy creme and chopped chocolate that may have been the accidental result of a chocolatier's apprentice spilling creme into the chocolate he was melting. The angry chef yelled at the apprentice and called him ganache, which means fool. What a scrumptious little snafu that Americans, French and many others around the world enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/4 C. butter softened (room temperature and use butter not margarine)

2 C. white sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 C. all purpose flour

3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Using a small cookie dough scoop (to ensure consistent size) drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Ovens may vary and I find that different pans cook quicker than others. You may want to test a small batch first. These are chewy cookies so they will be soft. Cool slightly on the cookie sheet. Then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

White Chocolate Peppermint Schnapps Ganache

Ingredients

16 oz. chopped good quality white chocolate (real chocolate does taste better)

6 oz heavy whipping creme

1 1/2 oz. Peppermint Schnapps (you can use Grand Marnier or a fruit liqueur if you prefer)

2 to 3 tsp. butter

Directions

Place chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Add cream to a saucepan and heat to boiling. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED AS MILK WILL BURN EASILY! Immediately remove from heat and pour over white chocolate. Whisk continuously until totally melted. Add in butter 1 tsp. at a time until you have a smooth texture. Add schnapps and whisk in. Let mixture cool completely and thicken. Beat with an electric mixer to soft peaks, then beat for only a few strokes by hand with the whisk. (Do not over whisk or it can become grainy)

When cookies have completely cooled, take 1 cookie and spread a layer of ganache about 1/4" thick on the bottom of it and place another cookie flat side down on the ganache. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

If you have Ganache left over you can keep it up to 1 week in the refrigerator and 4 to 6 months in the freezer. Just thaw it out on the counter and it should retain it's creamy texture. It's also a great frosting for cakes and cupcakes. In the spirit of the season you could also roll the sides of the sandwich cookies in some peppermint candy crunchies.

What's your favorite Holiday cookie? That special yum...yum that you only indulge in once a year!

Comments

[vitamins]

I usually only coat the ganache in cocoa powder. Most truffles I've seen are either/or, but it is quite possible to coat with hard chocolate and then with a dusting of cocoa powder - but the cocoa powder won't stick all that well and it's a shame to cover up the chocolate coating...