Vanilla Cream Shortbread Sandwich Cookies. Not exactly the catchiest name for a cookie. An Oreo-like cream sandwiched between shortbread cookies, topped with milk chocolate stripes, and finished with a Cadbury mini egg. Not exactly the Reader's Digest version of a cookie description. Yet, they are the most heavenly, divine, scrumptious, mouthwatering, flavorful, yummiest cookies. They also happen to be the cutest cookies ever! Wordy titled cookies deserve the wordiest commentaries.
While I gave these insanely delicious cookies what appears to be a bit of an Easter whimsy finish, they are not holiday only confections. But seriously, aren't they just the most adorable Easter basket destined cookies?
The story behind the inspiration for these cookies is a bit convoluted but stay with me. Game of Thrones fans who like complicated stories will get me. After making the swoonworthy Alfajores (the Dulce de Leche filled sandwich cookies) a few weeks back, I was reminded how much I love both shortbread and sandwich cookies. Give me a cookie with a cream filling and I am your friend for life. They don't even have to be homemade. A package of Oreos would do just fine. However, it was in my search (and score) late one night this week for packages of the limited release Game of Thrones Oreo cookies that got me thinking. Why not combine my love of shortbread and cream filled sandwich cookies with my obsession with Game of Thrones into a cookie having a whimsical finishing touch? Those mini Easter eggs look a little like dinosaur eggs, don't they? For good measure, I thought a milk chocolate drizzle would make them epic. Like the anticipated last season of Game of Thrones. And so now you know, how Vanilla Cream Shortbread Sandwich Cookies were conceived.
I have a lot of favorite cookie recipes posted to the blog, but these, well these cookies are definitely in my top five. I am obsessed with them.
When making the dough for the cookies, I used a high quality European butter (see Notes below). In addition to adding a more nuanced, richer flavor the dough came together ever better than when I made the Alfajores. Meaning this time the dough need did not need any refrigerator before being rolled out. However, if your dough doesn't have a consistency ready for rolling out immediately, refrigerate it for 30 to 60 minutes.
When I made these cookies, I melted too much chocolate and over-filled my pastry bag. With my pastry bag a little unwieldy, my stripes weren't as straight as I had intended them to be. However, these slightly squiggly lines added even more whimsy to the cookies. Or at least I have convinced myself there is beauty in squiggly lines. But if you want your cookies to have more of a bakery finish and even stripes, don't overfill your pastry bag. Less is more.
The cream filling sandwiched between the shortbread rounds is even better than the filling found in Oreos. It's creamier and made with real butter. Isn't everything better made with butter?
I piped some additional warm chocolate into the center of each cookie before placing the mini Cadbury egg on to ensure it would adhere.
Seriously, these are insanely delicious cookies.
I used some of my vintage cookie cutters, but any round 2" cookie cutter will work. Square and oval shaped cookies would be equally beautiful.
Vanilla Cream Shortbread Sandwich Cookies might be a name you can commit to memory, but I guarantee you will not forget how flavorfully addictive they these cookies are. And, if by chance, any of you Game of Thrones fans can't find the limited release Oreo cookies or aren't willing to pay the outrageous prices they are being sold on Ebay for, you could always make these. Honestly, I think these are so much better!
Vanilla Cream Shortbread Sandwich Cookies (Cookie Filling inspired by Stella Park's Homemade Oreo Cookie Filling recipe in her cookbook "Bravetart: Iconic American Desserts"
Makes 30 sandwich cookies (2" sized)
Ingredients
Shortbread Cookies
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (Recommend using a European and/or European Style butter, see Notes below)1 1/4 cups (156 g) confectionary sugar1 large egg yolk, room temperature2 teaspoons good quality vanilla1 teaspoon kosher salt2 3/4 cups (358 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
Vanilla Cream Filling
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups confectionary sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate
4-6 ounces milk chocolate, divided
Optional
Mini Cadbury eggs or other chocolate candy
Directions
Shortbread Cookies
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter for 10-15 seconds. Scrape sides of the bowl.
2. Add in confectionary sugar and beat until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes).
3. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Beat only until incorporated.
4. Add in flour and salt. Mix until dough comes together and begins to form a ball.
5. Scrape dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten and shape into a 6" x 8" rectangle. Divide dough in half, shaped into a rectangle and wrap tightly in cellophane. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Note: If dough is ready to roll out immediately, there is no need for refrigeration. Use of a European butter may not necessitate the chilling step.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degree (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
7. Remove the one of the chilled doughs from the refrigerator.
8. Lightly flour a surface. Roll out the piece of dough to a thickness of approximately 1/6" or 1/8".
9. Using a 2" round cookie cutter, cut out circles and place cookie rounds on a prepared baking sheet. Using a smaller cookie cutter, cut out round circles in the center of half of the cookies as the base of the cookie will be solid.
11. Form scrapes of dough back into a ball to roll out to continue cutting out circles. If your dough is soft, chill your cookies in the refrigerator while you are rolling out the other half of the dough.
12. Rotating the pan midway through the baking process, bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes or until they are very lightly browned on the edges. Immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Continue baking your cookies, again transferring the baked cookies to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before drizzling with chocolate or topping them with the cream filling.
Chocolate
1. Melt 4 ounces of milk chocolate in the microwave or in a glass bowl hovering over simmering water. When chocolate has melted allow to cool for approximately 3 minutes.
2. Pour 2/3 of the chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip. Once chocolate has been poured allow to sit for 2 minutes before you begin piping it onto the cookies.
3. Lay out the cookie tops onto a large working surface or board covered in parchment paper.
4. Working carefully, pipe 4 or 5 stripes onto the tops of the cookies.
5. Allow the chocolate to set before assembling the cookies.
Vanilla Cream Filling
1. Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool for two minutes.
2. Pour ever so slightly cooled butter into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. Add in vanilla and kosher salt, followed by the confectionary sugar.
4. Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium and beat until creamy and soft (approximately 5 minutes)>
5. Transfer cream filling to a pastry bag fitted with a round plain tip.
6. Turn the cookie bottoms upside down (baked bottom facing up) onto a board covered in parchment paper.
7. Pipe icing, leaving about a 1/4" of the edge clean, onto the base of each cookie.
Chocolate and Assembly
1. Place a chocolate striped cookie onto the cookie bottom topped with icing. Press down slightly.
2. Using the remainder of the melted chocolate (you may have to reheat slightly), pipe a small amount into the center of the cookie if topping each cookie with a mini Cadbury egg or other candy.
3. Allow the cookies to set.
4. Serve immediately or store in a tightly covered container. Cookies will remain fresh for up to one week kept at room temperature.
Notes: (1) These cookies would be delicious even without the milk chocolate striping and/or mini Cadbury eggs. (2) I used a fluted cookie cutter, but a round and/or square 2" cookie cutter would also work well. (3) Using a high quality European or European-style butter makes for a much richer cookie. Additionally the dough may not require any refrigeration prior to rolling it out. I used Kerrygold (unsalted) butter for both the shortbread cookies and cream filling. (4) If you don't have a pastry bag or pastry tips, use a quart sized plastic sandwich bag to pipe the chocolate and the filling. Just cut a small tip at one end of the bag.
