Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Salted Caramel Russian Buttercream

During my last post I taught you how to make Russian Buttercream with a Mexican Twist (in the form of dulce de leche), and now I’m going to add a little French je ne sais quoi to the buttercream by giving it a salted caramel flavor profile, which pairs perfectly with Chocolate, or should I say Chocolat. Ooh-la-la!

Start by making delicious chewy chocolate cookies, which are perfectly divine on their own, and sandwich two together with a layer of salted caramel Russian Buttercream in the middle. It’s a heavenly combination.

Seriously, try not to eat all the chocolate cookies before you turn them into sandwich cookies!

You can serve these cookies at room temperature, but I think they’re even better slightly chilled (10-15 minutes in the fridge). Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• dulce de leche https://amzn.to/3gCrmKg

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3ovS9fE

• high quality dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3gD1ez8

• disposable pastry bags https://amzn.to/3BbuV3t

• #50 scoop https://amzn.to/3JdIVN6

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3gDkY5m

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/367mM4Z

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Chocolate Sandwich Cookies w/Salted Caramel Russian Buttercream

makes 12 sandwich cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa, sifted (use really good quality)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• extra granulated sugar to coat roll cookies in before baking (or use vanilla sugar)

Filling:

• 1/4 pound (113g) unsalted butter at room temperature (70F)

• 1/4 pound (113g) canned dulce de leche, chilled

• fine table salt to taste

Directions

To make the cookies:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside until needed.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater or BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it lightens in color.

3. Add egg and pure vanilla extract; continue to mix until no traces of egg remain.

4. Turn mixer speed down to low; add cocoa mixture and combine until no traces of dry flour or cocoa remain, scraping bowl if needed.

5. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat oven to 350F, place rack in center of oven, and line 2 half sheet pans with silpat liners.

7. Using a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon), roll level scoops of chilled cookie dough in the palm of your hand to form a ball; coat with granulated sugar and space evenly on sheet pan, 12 per pan.

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the filling:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat room temperature butter using a hand mixer for 2-3 mites, until light in color and very fluffy.

2. Add chilled dulce de leche and continue beating with a hand mixer for 1 minute.

3. Taste the buttercream carefully and add just enough salt to achieve the level of salted caramel flavor you desire, beating well so the salt is evenly distributed.

Blackberry Fools

I found the most amazing blackberries at the market the other day - they were super sweet and delicious and I couldn't wait to use them to make Blackberry Fool, an incredibly simple, yet elegant dessert. 

In case you're wondering, fruit fool recipes first started appearing in the year 1598 - the word fool is thought to be derived from the french word "fouler" which means to press or mash.

When choosing blackberries, pick ones that are completely black, and taste them to make sure they're sweet because they won't ripen after being picked. 

To make blackberry puree, place ripe blackberries and lemon zest in a personal blender or small food processor.

Blitz the berries until completely pulverized.  

Then pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.  A silicone scraper is pretty helpful here.

Blackberries contain a LOT of seeds so you definitely want to remove them (discard them or feed them to the chickens). 

Mmmm.... smooth, seedless blackberry puree.

To make blackberry fool, fold together 1 part blackberry puree and 4 parts sweetened whipped cream (recipe below).

You can leave the mixture a little streaky if you like - I think the streaks look kind of cool.

Or if you're a bit compulsive and you can't help but continue to fold the two components together until they're completely mixed, go for it.  You do you.

Spoon or pipe the mixture into dessert cups.  The dessert cups I chose (these) have very small openings so I filled them using a pastry bag to keep the cups neat and clean.  

To complete the presentation, pipe some leftover whipped cream on top using a large closed star tip (like this one) and garnished with a mint leaf.  Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• microplane grater https://amzn.to/2PZLO9s

• fine mesh strainer https://amzn.to/2wAHMw8

• adorable mini dessert glasses https://amzn.to/2NMLnhr

• disposable pastry bags https://amzn.to/3uEH3cg

• closed star pastry tube https://amzn.to/2oCWfmI

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Blackberry Fools

Makes 6-8 mini desserts (3-ounce)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 ounces ripe blackberries (or other berries)

• zest from 1/2 lemon

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make berry puree by blitzing berries with lemon zest in a personal blender or small food processor; strain seeds and discard.

2. In a small mixing bowl, whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla using a handheld mixer until stiff peaks form.

3. In another small mixing bowl, fold together 6 tablespoons strained blackberry puree and 1 1/2 cups of sweetened whipped cream until combined (a few streaks remaining look lovely).

4. To neatly fill dessert cups, transfer berry and cream mixture to a piping bag and carefully fill six 3-ounce mini dessert cups (eight dessert cups if you don't fill them as full).

5. Place remaining whipped cream in another piping bag filled with a closed star tip and top each dessert.

6. Garnish with a mint leaf and/or a drizzle of the remaining blackberry puree.

Note

• The blackberries can be substituted with other seasonal berries.