Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling: #CreativeCookieExchange

Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling are perfect for holiday tins (or anytime): the coffee flavored shortbread is classic and not too sweet while the caramelized white chocolate filling gives the cookies warm sweetness and an exciting new twist. Keep reading to see what other cookies CCE bakers are making for the holidays, Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing. 

I know, first I go about a month without saying anything and then I pop up twice in the space of a week. Crazy! But guys I cannot let a holiday season go by without sharing some cookies. You know that holiday cookies are an obsession of mine, and even though Creative Cookie Exchange has slowed down, winter holidays seem like the perfect time to put out a “Creative Cookie Exchange: Special Holiday Edition” of sorts.

Unsurprisingly, given my holiday cookie obsession, I am also devoted to collecting special edition holiday cookie magazines. Bake from Scratch is rapidly becoming my favorite one–I never miss any of their issues, let alone the holiday cookie ones. They made these cookies with a dark chocolate filling, and while I would like to try them that way (indeed I do have some waiting to try a milk chocolate filling with also), I thought the bitter coffee would be beautifully offset by the sweetness of toasted white chocolate. And I was dying to use my Valrhona Dulcey Blond Chocolate Feve that I had just discovered. I adore caramelized, or toasted, white chocolate, which many chocolatiers are now calling blond or blonde chocolate; I made it for my Butterscotch Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramelized White Chocolate Glaze and thought it was amazing. Amazing, but definitely some added work. So when a reputable chocolatier started making it (I love Valrhona’s Dutched cocoa powder) I immediately added it to my Amazon shopping cart. And, another point to Bake from Scratch, I made this life changing discovery in this year’s Bake From Scratch Holiday Cookies 2019 Collector’s Edition.

So far I have only encountered one person who did not care for these Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling, and I am not sure she cares for caramelized white chocolate (heresy, I know). They are keeping beautifully in their holiday tin (a must for holiday cookies) and steadily dwindling (also a must!). I ordered more of the blond chocolate feve discs (I think the blonde/blond thing is English versus French) and we will see if I just make more of the same or try a milk chocolate filling. Right now the unique deliciousness makes me want to say screw the milk chocolate, bring on the toasted white chocolate!

5 from 1 vote

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Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling

Adapted from Bake From Scratch, Edd Kimber. This recipe can also be made into slice and bake logs, but I chose to roll the dough and cut out squares.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Keyword: caramelized white chocolate, coffee, sandwich cookies, toasted white chocolate

Servings: 25 cookies

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• ⅔ cup (150 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 T freshly ground coffee
• 2 large egg yolks (37 grams)
• 1 t vanilla bean paste
• 2 cups (250 g) AP flour
• ½ t fine sea salt

For the filling:

• 4 oz blonde chocolate, chopped (or in tablets like the feve discs)
• 1/2 T coconut oil
• 1 pinch sea salt

Instructions

Make the cookies:

1. Beat the butter until creamy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

2. Add the powdered sugar in 3 additions, beating until creamy and scraping after each one.

3. Beat in the freshly ground coffee.

4. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the egg yolks and vanilla bean paste. Beat until incorporated and once again scrape sides and bottom of bowl.

5. Whisk together the flour and salt and then mix it into the dough on the slowest speed.

6. When the dough is evenly mixed, divide it into 3 balls. Flatten those into discs and then wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour.

7. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F.

8. Remove the discs one at a time (in other words, leave the dough chilling until you are ready to roll) and place in between 2 pieces of parchment or wax paper. Roll to 1/4-inch thickness and then cut into desired shape. We did squares for fun, but in hindsight I realized rounds would have been easier to fill because you can dollop some filling in the center of the cookie and then screw the 2 rounds together--squares and other cornered shapes are trickier.

9. Remove the cut outs to a parchment lined cookie sheet (or silicone mat lined) and place them 1 inch apart. I got 20 cookies to a sheet.

10. Quickly re-roll the cookie dough scraps and repeat. When the ball gets too small, add it to the next disc from the refrigerator and repeat until all of the dough has been used.

11. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they are just lightly browning at the edges. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes on the pan before removing to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Make the filling and fill the sandwiches:

1. Using a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl in a pan of simmering water, melt the blonde chocolate with the coconut oil. Stir until melted, and then whisk in the sea salt.

2. Remove the chocolate to cool. When it has cooled and thickened a bit but is still pour-able, pour the chocolate either into a freezer plastic bag or a squeeze bottle designed for drizzling chocolate (do not use a traditional cake decorating bag as the chocolate will just run through the tip immediately).

3. Cut a tiny snip from the corner of the bag if you are a using a freezer bag. Drizzle the chocolate onto half of the cookies (bottom sides up). Work quickly because the chocolate sets quickly.

4. If you notice the chocolate setting before you create sandwiches, do this in batches. It will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. While the chocolate is still glossy and melted, place a second cookie, bottom side down, over the chocolate. Press just enough to set--you do not want chocolate dripping everywhere, and you want the filling in the cookie sandwich not squishing out of it. Separate the cookies so that none of them are connected if any white chocolate connects them.

5. Leave the cookies to set at room temperature before storing in airtight tins.

Recipe Notes

I love caramelized white chocolate; if you want to try making your own, I have instructions here in my Butterscotch Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramelized White Chocolate Glaze. If, like me, you conquered making it once and thought it was amazing but rarely find the time to make your own, or just don't want to bother, I recently discovered that Valrhona is selling blond chocolate feve discs. People this is not sponsored but it is an affiliate link and it is life changing!

Creative Cookie Exchange has slowed down lately, but nothing inspires cookie baking like winter holidays. We’ve got cookies to try; what’s filling your holiday tins this December?

You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our past monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). If you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Pecan Snowball Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Spritz Christmas Tree Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling from The Spiced Life
• Gevulde Speculaas – Dutch Spiced Cookies from Spiceroots

Looking for an Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling collage to pin?