Soft chocolate sandwich cookies

Bakers, I’ve got a goodie for you this week. These melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cookies are a sublime tea time treat and lots of fun to make too. I based the recipe on these custard and vanilla bean sandwich cookies. These were so popular when I published them last year that I decided to tweak the recipe slightly and create a chocolate version.

I used a star piping nozzle to pipe the icing onto the biscuits as I prefer this neater look. If you’re not in the mood for piping simply spread the icing on instead.

Please continue to share your baking pics on Instagram and to tag @cupcakes_and_couscous, I’d love to share your creations and give you a shout out!

SOFT CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES

Servings: 20
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For the cookies:

175g butter, softened
150g icing sugar
5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
1 large egg, lightly beaten
240g flour
35g cocoa
60g cornflour
5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
pinch of salt

For the chocolate buttercream:

90g butter, softened
5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
260g icing sugar
20g cocoa
30ml (2 tbsp) milk, warmed

1.) Preheat the oven to 170ºC and line two trays with baking paper.

2.) Place the butter in a mixing bowl and sift in the icing sugar. Cream for five minutes until pale and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla essence and egg.

3.) Sift the flour, cocoa, cornflour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Mix gently to combine.

4.) Roll the dough into 40 small balls. Arrange the balls on the trays leaving some space for spreading. Flatten each cookie lightly with your palm and then press down gently with a fork.

5.) Bake for 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool.

6.) While the cookies are cooling prepare the chocolate buttercream. Place the butter in a mixing bowl and cream until soft and pale. Mix in the vanilla essence.

7.) Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa and mix well. The mixture will be dry but keep going until it starts to come together and form small clumps. Add the warm milk and mix again.

8.) Group the cookies into pairs of similar sizes. Pipe or spread some icing onto a cold cookie, and sandwich it together with its partner. Repeat with the remaining cookies and icing.