Arrrrr! Wait… Tee Hee! I’m not quite sure what noise a leprechaun makes, but whatever it is will be exactly the sound that you will be making after trying these delicious cookie sandwiches. A bit of Baileys will perfectly accent the dark, sweetened chocolate sablé cookies with a smooth, creamy mint filling between. I’ll drink {green beer} to that!
I realize that I have had several boozy recipe posts lately— and, well, I have. In St. Patrick’s Day spirit, a splash or ten of Baileys Irish Cream seemed only appropriate. I have to confess that I am not a huge chocolate fan. At all, really. But I am certainly a Baileys fan. One for two seems to make it a win in my book. The Irish Cream really adds a great depth to the sweetened, dark chocolate cookies. Alternatively, espresso would make for a great replacement. I used our Vanilla Sugar for the cookie base.
Very basic ingredients can result in very basic products or more complex ones depending on how you incorporate them. Technique and process is everything in baking. Sablé means “sandy” in french, perfectly describing the texture of the versatile cookie. Traditionally, it is a simple butter and sugar cookie much like a shortbread, only with more of a crumble. These cookies are quite delicate, but once mastered can be transformed into an endless number of sweet treats.
And now for the pot o’ gold in our sweets!…
The mint filling compliments the dark chocolate cookie base to give a perfect little cookie sandwich. Very simple to make. Play with the flavoring extracts to your own liking. I’ve made almond sables, vanilla sugar sables and even key lime sables. All of them were delicious!
Croi follain agus gob fliuch!
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour, all-purpose
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 8 tablespoons butter, unsalted, room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar, best with our Vanilla Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 2-3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (alternatively 1 teaspoon vanilla)
- 4 tablespoons butter, unsalted, room temperature
- ¼ cup shortening
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon mint extract (alternatively 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- ~2 tablespoons milk
- green food coloring, optional
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- In mixer beat butter, sugar and salt together until light and fluffy.
- Add egg yolk and Baileys (or vanilla) and mix well.
- Add dry flour/cocoa mix in batches until combined.
- Mix in semi-sweet chocolate (grated fine or pulsed as fine as you can get it in food processor first).
- Ball dough on plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill.
- Roll out and punch cookies or roll into tube and cut cookies off (I went with between 1?4 and ⅛ inch cookies).
- Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes for thinner, 10 for thicker.
- Cool on pan until stiff enough to move.
- Place butter and shortening in mixer bowl and mix together.
- Slowly add powdered sugar and extract.
- When combined, beat on high speed for about 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
- Add milk by tablespoon until desired texture.
- Fill cooled cookies with cream.
- Enjoy! Visit SouthernFATTY.com for more.
What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day? More importantly, what will you be eating?? Comment below or tweet us about it!
Risa
March 16, 2014 at 6:16 pmMan, these cookies are calling my name! They’re so fun and festive – I’m definitely going to have to give them a try.
Phillip @ SouthernFATTY.com
March 16, 2014 at 6:40 pmThanks! They were a pretty big hit 🙂