Chocolate Caramel Linzer Cookies
Chocolate caramel linzer cookies, made with soft chocolate sugar cookies, dulce de leche caramel filling, and chocolate royal icing.
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Equipment
- Food Processor or Pastry Cutter
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ recipe No Spread Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Icing
- ¾ cup (105g) powdered sugar
- 2 ½ tsp (4g) unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 ½ tsp (7g) meringue powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ - 2 tbsp (29ml) warm water
Filling
- ¾ - 1 cup (190g) dulce de leche
Instructions
Cookies
- Prepare 1/2 Recipe Chocolate Sugar Cookie Dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Prep 2 baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Working with half the dough at a time, roll the dough out on a floured surface to between 1/4 - 1/8 inch thick (closer to 1/8 inch), using a little more flour on top of the dough to keep it from sticking.Cut as many cookies as you can with a 2 1/2 inch round fluted cookie cutter, and place the cut cookies on the baking sheets, spaced 1-2 inches apart. Gather up the scraps, roll them out again, and continue to cut as many cookies as you can.
- Use a 1-inch cookie cutter, any shape you like, to cut the centers out of half the cookies. Depending on the thickness of the dough, you should be able to cut about 12-15 bottom cookies and 12-15 top cookies with a "window" or cutout.
- Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill the cut cookies for 30 minutes. This will help maintain their shape so they don't spread in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Bake the chilled cookies for about 8 - 8 1/2 minutes, until baked through. With chocolate sugar cookies, you won't be able to tell by the color if the cookies are done baking, but if you gently turn one over with a spatula, there should be no appearance of raw or wet dough underneath. (If there are any areas on top of the cookies that have puffed or bubbled up, just gently press them flat again with the bottom of a spatula.)Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before icing and filling.
Chocolate Icing
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and meringue powder.Add the vanilla extract and water, and gently whisk until smooth, thick and drizzly. Take care not to whisk too hard, or you'll incorporate air bubbles which will ruin the appearance of your icing.
- Take the top cookies (the ones with the cutout), gently dip the the tops of the cookies in the icing, and shake the excess icing back into the bowl. Set the iced cookies back down on a baking sheet. Immediately, before the icing sets, use a toothpick or cookie decorating scribe tool to smooth out the icing and pop any air bubbles. Finish dipping the top cookies in the icing.
- The icing will dry to the touch very quickly, but it takes a while to fully dry. You'll need to wait an hour or two before assembling the linzer cookies, and at least six hours before you can stack the finished cookies.
Filling
- Turn the bottom cookies over, so the bottom side is facing up. With a small offset spatula, spread about 2 teaspoons dulce de leche onto each cookie.
- Assemble the linzer cookies by gently placing one of the iced top cookies on the dulce de leche, to make a sandwich cookie.
Notes
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Once the icing is fully dry, you can stack the cookies in several layers, separating each layer with parchment paper.
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