Cardamom is a spice that is used widely in the Arab world, both in savory and sweet dishes, and it is the secret flavor in the fragrant Arabic coffee. In these cookies, cardamom gives an exotic taste that goes very well with chocolate. Use any cookie-cutter shape you like!
MAKES: 2 dozen filled cookies
INGREDIENTS:
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- pinch of salt
CHOCOLATE FILLING:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- icing sugar to dust
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a large bowl beat the butter and icing sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, cardamom and salt, and add to the butter mixture. Mix together to form a dough. Shape the dough into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Take out the dough and roll on a lightly floured surface. For the photo I used star and moon cookie cutters to cut an equal number of cookies. Just make sure to make two of each shape to sandwich the chocolate filling.
- Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool completely.
- To prepare the chocolate filling, in a small saucepan heat the cream just until boiling. Remove from the heat and pour in the chocolate pieces. Stir to melt. Whisk in the butter.
- Spread the chocolate filling on half of the cookies and place the other same-shaped cookie on top. Dust lightly with icing sugar just before serving.
