Mocha Sandwich Cookies

My godmother is the most awkward person to choose gifts for, so when her birthday came round this week I decided to bake her a gift instead of buying something. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time due to an already busy week, so I thought I'd adapt the recipe I shared for ginger pinwheel biscuits to make some cookie dough which I could prepare in advance. And as you bake from frozen, it's super easy to have a batch of freshly baked cookies ready in a flash!



Ingredients:
120g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp coco powder
1 tbsp instant coffee granules dissolved
2 tbsp boiling water

100g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar
100g white chocolate, melted


Start by creaming together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and give it a good mix. Add the flour, baking powder and the cocoa powder and mix well. Dissolve the coffee granules in the boiling water and add to the dough. Keep mixing until the dough comes together, then knead in around the bowl with your hands until you have a smooth, soft dough.

Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into round log. You’ll slice this to make your cookies once it’s set, so if you want smaller biscuits, make the log longer and thinner, and if you want larger ones, make it shorter and thicker.

Carefully wrap the dough in cling film, taking care to keep the shape, and freeze for a minimum of two hours. You can keep this in the freezer for weeks and weeks, and slice and bake as and when you like.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 160c and take the dough out of the freezer. Slice it as thin as you can; about 3-4mm and place on a lightly dusted baking tray, well spaced out as they spread a little. Try to get an even number, as you’ll be sandwiching them together.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until just firm to the touch. Leave to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

While they are cooling, make your filling.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and icing sugar until it forms a smooth buttercream. Add the melted white chocolate and mix until smooth and thick enough to pipe.

Spoon your filling into a piping bag, and pipe a generous blob of the filling (about 1 heaped tsp) onto the centre of half of your cooled biscuits. Top each with a second biscuit and gently squeeze together slightly so that the filling pushes to the edges – but don’t squeeze too hard as the biscuits may snap, or the filling may ooze out everywhere!

And that's it! Simples!