Peppermint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

This past weekend I had a cookie swap to attend and so I went perusing foodnetwork.com to find a recipe. I came across these peppermint chocolate sandwich cookies by Giada and thought they sounded fun and looked festive. It called for refrigerated sugar cookie dough, but I decided to make my own using Ashlee's Fabulous Sugar Cookie recipe, since I wanted to make some regular sugar cookies too. I just divided the dough in half, used half for this recipe and half for the regular. This also called for peppermint extract in the ganache filling, but I omitted that since I didn't have any and they were still great. For the topping I used peppermint crunch baking chips, they can be found near the choc. chips in the baking aisle. You can certainly just use peppermint candies though. Everyone really liked these and they look great for the holidays too.

Peppermint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Source: Giada DeLaurentiis at FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:
1 recipe sugar cookie dough, found here
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Powdered sugar for rolling
Decorating suggestion: crushed peppermint candies or peppermint crunchies; white, red and green sprinkles; or red and green decorating sugar
Special equipment: a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter

Directions:
For Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare sugar cookie dough according to directions and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on a work surface. Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough. Knead together any scraps of dough and roll out again. Continue to cut out circles until there are 24 pieces in total. Place the dough circles on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are slightly golden around the edges, about 7-8 minutes (depending on your sugar cookie recipe). Cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Reserve 1 parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

For Ganache Filling:
Combine 1 cup of chocolate chips and the cream in a small bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the peppermint extract and refrigerate the mixture for 1 hour. Using a 1/2-ounce cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure, place the chocolate mixture in the center of the flat side of 12 of the cookies. Place the remaining cookies on top and gently squeeze to distribute the filling evenly. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until the filling has set, about 25 minutes.

For Chocolate Topping:
Combine the remaining chocolate chips and the vegetable oil in a small bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Dip the top of each cookie in the melted chocolate and return to the baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with crushed candy canes or peppermint candies. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store in an airtight plastic container.