There’s no denying that I absolutely LOVE chocolate. And lately I had been craving sablè cookies.. you know those soft crumbly chocolatey type that just melt in your mouth.. well yea I wanted those. But then as ’extra’ as I am , Ofcourse just the cookie itself wasent going to be enough for this intense craving.. so why not make a spread or buttercream of some sort? Or better yet how about a ganache to amp up the chocolate.. or Even better .. add hazelnut to it!

Now you can just imagine my brain going in all sorts directions .. but I had to just look in my pantry and see what I had (because having two kids under 1 1/2 yrs you basically avoid going to the grocery store as much as possible – tantrums – that’s all I will say about that lol) so yes, looking in my pantry I found some hazelnut spread (the fancier kind to my surprise lol) some dark chocolate and cream – then it was decided – chocolate cookies with hazelnut & chocolate whipped ganache in the middle.

As fancy/difficult this may sound – it definitely isn’t! It just takes time (most of that time is the resting time for both the cookie dough prior to baking and the ganache prior to whipping) everything else is SUPER easy! So DO give this indulgent cookie a try! You will LOVE it!

Here’s how you bake them!

INGREDIENTS :

For Cookies

• 240g (2 cups) flour
• 75g (3/4 cup) unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 226g (1 cup) butter, room temp.
• 150g (3/4 cup) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla paste)

For Whipped Hazelnut Ganache

• 240ml (1 cup) heavy cream/whipping cream
• 170g (1 cup) dark chocolate chips or chocolate roughly chopped (I used 70%)
• 175g hazelnut spread of your choice (I used nöt-Creme original – not sure if this is available in other countries but it’s a good brand hazelnut cream)

METHOD :

For the cookies –

1. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt) and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer (or using a hand held mixer), whip together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, full speed for about 2 min.
3. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until fluffy.
4. Then sift in the dry ingredients and slowly mix it all together u til throughly incorporated.
5. Split the dough into two parts. Roll out into two logs, cover with plastic wrap and out into the fridge for 35-40 min. (You can spend this time making your whipped ganache)
6. Turn your oven on to 177C (350F) and take your cookie logs out of the fridge.
7. Slice them evenly at roughly an inch thickness ( in total you should get 40 cookies, so 20 in total once sandwiched together)
8. Place a baking sheet onto your baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-12 min. They will grow a little so make sure to keep some distance between each cookie.
9. Take out and leave to cool completely on the tray before piping and sandwiching.

For the whipped ganache –

1. Put the chopped chocolate into a medium sized bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat over medium heat u til it starts bubbling (make sure NOT to leave it alone otherwise it will boil over really fast!)
2. once it starts bubbling, pour over the chocolate and leave it to sit for 5 min. Then start mixing slowly with a spoon until the chocolate melts altogether.
3. Add in the hazelnut spread and mix that in as well. Place the bowl in the fridge and leave to cool completely while mixing (with a spoon is fine) now and then for about 35-40 min (or until it’s completely cooled through)
4. Then pour into your stand mixer or using a hand held mixer, whip it together on high speed until thick and fluffy.
5. Pour into a piping bag and pipe out onto half of the cookies. Place the other half on top as a sandwich.
6. And voila! Your sandwich cookies are ready to eat! ENJOY!