I can just hear my mom saying “another chocolate recipe??” Yes Mom, another one lol. I have been working on a few other non-chocolate recipes but none of them are ready to publish yet, so here is a recipe I did this weekend to share with you: Ganache Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies! Are you drooling yet?
My Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies filled with Dulce de Leche were so tasty and have been such a popular recipe, I decided to try another stuffed cookie. This time decided to work with my Next Level Chocolate Chip Cookies. I thought they would be too sweet with dulce de leche inside but figured some chocolate ganache would work well. To make the cookies, I did a double recipe of the chocolate chip cookie dough and put it in the fridge to firm up for 2 hours. Then I made some chocolate ganache by microwaving 1 cup of chopped semi-sweet chocolate with 1/2 cup of cream and a teaspoon of espresso powder in short bursts until the chocolate was melted and the mixture was homogenous. This took about 50 seconds total, so it was nice and quick! I added a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt to the mixture. Like caramel, salt goes really well with both coffee and chocolate and I love adding a hit of salt to my desserts to enhance the flavour and balance the sweetness. Next, I put the ganache in the fridge to chill until it became thick, like peanut butter, which took about 1 hour.
After the ganache had thickened, I scooped out teaspoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet and chilled the ganache until it was hard. This made it easier to handle for filling the cookies. Once the ganache was ready, I formed 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough into a bowl shape then stuck a dollop of ganache in the centre.
Then I formed the dough into a ball around the ganache and placed it on a lined baking sheet. I wasn’t sure how much the cookies would spread to so opted for 8 cookies per sheet. To ensure more even spreading, I flattened the balls into a hockey puck shape. Finally, I sprinkled a bit of sea salt over top. (I forgot to take a picture with the sea salt on them but you can see it in the final product.)
I baked two trays at a time, rotating the pans between the shelves after 5 minutes. Each batch took between 8-10 minutes to cook. The final cookie was fantastic! It was crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle and had a layer of gooey ganache. They had a wonderful balance of textures, a great chocolate flavour and the sprinkle of salt on top brought the whole cookie together!
Ingredients
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For the Cookie Dough
- For the Ganache
Instructions
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For the Cookie Dough
- Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
- Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark brown and has a nutty aroma, about 1-3 minutes.
- Set butter aside to cool a bit in a bowl while you prepare your other ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.
- Mix sugars in a bowl.
- Add melted butter and egg and vanilla and mix to combine after each addition at low speed.
- Add flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Fold in chocolate.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or up to 1 day. For the Chocolate Ganache
- Place chocolate, cream and instant espresso powder in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in 15-20 second bursts, stirring between each interval until chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is homogenous. Stir in sea salt. Chill in the fridge until the consistency of peanut butter, about 1 hour.
- Measure out teaspoon dollops of ganache and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (34 dollops in total). Freeze until solid, about 30 minutes. This will make the ganache easier to handle when filling the cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
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Working with one ball at a time, form the ball into a bowl-like shape. Place one of the ganache dollops in the centre and form the ball of dough back around the ganache, making sure to seal it up completely in the middle of the ball.
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Place on one of your baking sheets and press into a hockey puck shape. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place 8 cookies on each cookie sheet.
- Bake two trays at a time for 8 - 10 minutes until tops are set and beginning to turn golden. Cool on the pans for 5 minutes before removing them to a rack to cool completely.
