About the Recipe
If you're looking for a delicious treat to satisfy your sweet tooth, look no further than this recipe for chocolate shortbread cookie sandwiches with raspberry-mint cream cheese filling. These cookies are the perfect balance of rich chocolate and tangy raspberry, with a refreshing hint of mint to top it all off. The creamy, smooth texture of the cream cheese filling pairs perfectly with the crisp, buttery shortbread cookies, making for a truly unforgettable dessert experience. Whether you're looking for a quick snack, an indulgent dessert, or a crowd-pleasing party treat, these cookie sandwiches are sure to be a hit. So fire up your oven, grab your ingredients, and get ready to indulge in a little bit of chocolatey, raspberry-filled heaven.
Ingredients
Cookies:
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
3 oz (3 squares) Semi-Sweet Chocolate (melted)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Filling:
1 cup Cream Cheese
2 cups Icing Sugar
1 - 1 1/2 cups Raspberries (Fresh or Frozen)
1/4 cup Mint Leaves (about 40 leaves)
Preparation
Start by mixing together your dry ingredients. In a large bowl add your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. I like to use a wire whisk to make sure that everything is well blended and that there aren't any lumps. You can also use a wire sieve to make sure your mixture is smooth.
In a second bowl, use a hand mixer to mix together your softened butter, sugars, egg and vanilla. Mix for a few minutes until you have a smooth creamy mixture.
Next, chop up your chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 15-20 second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted. Don't over microwave, you do not want to burn the chocolate. Once it is 90% melted, stirring should help to melt any smaller bits that are left.
Add the melted chocolate to your butter mixture and mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Slowly add your flour mixture to your chocolatey butter mixture. I usually do about half a cup at a time and mix after every addition, to make sure that everything is well incorporated.
Once you have finished adding everything together, you should be left with a thick chocolate paste-like dough.
Roll the dough into a log (about 7cm in diameter) and wrap with cling wrap. Place the log into the fridge and let cool for a minimum of 30 minutes or until firm.
Once the dough has cooled, remove from the fridge and cut into slices (about 5mm thick). You can either keep the cookies as round slices or use a cookie cutter to cut the slices into shapes. For this particular recipe, I used a flowery cookie cutter to give the edges a bit of a scalloped look. If you do want to use cookie cutters, make sure to flour your work surface a bit so that the dough does not stick.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Lay the cookies out onto the prepared baking sheet. You can put them pretty close together as the cookies will not grow much during baking.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are baked through.
Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transfering to a wire cooling rack.
While the cookies cool, prepare the filling.
In a small saucepan, heat up your raspberries on medium heat until they become soft and you are able to mush them into a saucy paste (about 5-7 minutes).
Use a sieve to strain the raspberries keeping the juice (we are wanting to get rid of the seeds).
Use a bowl and hand mixer, or a food processor to blend together the cream cheese, icing sugar, and mint leaves. (If you are using a hand mixer, finely chop the mint leaves first, if you are using a food processor you can add the whole leaves, they will get chopped during mixing). Slowly add a tablespoon at a time of the raspberry juice until you acheive a thick creamy filling.
If you think the mixture is a little too soft, add a bit more sugar or cream cheese to thicken. If too thick keep adding raspberry juice. You want the consistency to be thick but spreadable.
Refrigerate filling for 30 minutes.
Once the filling has set, use a knife to spread a bit of filling onto a chocolate cookie and use another cookie to make a sandwich.
I love this recipe because it makes a huge batch of cookies. Great for those times you are hoping to give some away!
Store in a cool dry place. Enjoy!