Night Baking

http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2010/06/reverse-fauxreos.html

Reverse Fauxreos

Makes about 33- 2 1/2" sandwich cookies (or make them smaller for less guilt!)

Cookies

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baker's ammonia or 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder*

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) flour

Filling

2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips

1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder**

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

If you're using baker's ammonia, combine the vanilla, baker's ammonia, and salt in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the ammonia; the salt won't fully dissolve. (If you're using baking powder, you can skip this step.)

Combine the vanilla mixture with the baking powder, butter and sugar; beat until smooth.

Mix in the flour. The mixture may seem dry at first, but keep beating until it comes together. Scoop into 1" balls (or even smaller - these are pretty rich). Place the balls on the cookie sheets leaving about 1 1/2" between them. Use the pusher from your food processor to flatten the cookies to about 1/4" thick. It will make a pretty circular pattern. You can also just use a glass. Either way, you may need to dip the pusher/glass in sugar so it doesn't stick to the cookies.***

Bake the cookies until set, about 11-15 minutes (maybe even less for smaller cookies). They should be very light golden brown at the edges and the cookies themselves should be very pale. Ovens can be very different - if your oven takes longer or a little less time, that's fine. Cool the cookies on the sheet while you make the filling.

Place the chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla, espresso powder, and cream in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Heat until the mixture is very hot and the cream starts to form bubbles. Stir until everything is incorporated and smooth, and then beat in the powdered sugar. You'll want to work with this ganache soon, while it's still a little warm. If you are baking the cookies first and plan to assemble them later, make the ganache right before you're ready to use it.

Match up the cookies so you have pairs that are about the same shape and size. Dollop some filling onto the center of the flat side (bottom) of one cookie. Top it with its partner cookie and press down gently to push the filling out to the edges. You'll want to play around with how much filling to use, but in general you want it to be reasonably thick without oozing out. (The original recipe calls for 4 teaspoons per cookie, but I found that was way too much.) Place the cookies on a rack to let the filling set. Wrap in plastic and store at room temperature. (I had good success with a tupperware.)

These ship well... stack them up, wrap them tightly (and pad them), and they can keep for several days!

Notes:

*I have never tried baker's ammonia. Supposedly, the dough will taste icky, but that taste won't transfer to the cookie. It will yield a crispier cookie than baking powder.

**I DO NOT drink coffee, but espresso powder in small amounts does amazing things to enhance chocolate flavor. Strongly recommended, even to non-coffee drinkers.

***It is a good idea to bake off two or three test cookies and make sure the consistency is right  before committing to an entire batch. If the cookies spread and are flat and greasy, knead in more flour, a tablespoon at a time, and continue testing until they come out right.