10 Days of Cookies - Day 1 - Brownie Bowties

Another week has gone by.   I am clearly still trying to figure out how to manage my time with a two week old.   Just when I think I have a free moment I get side tracked.  I start cleaning and tidying, putting things away or getting things ready for round 2 when her little voice pops up asking for food or cuddle time.  I can't complain though its a pretty good situation to be in.  

We are now in December!  YIPPEE.  My decorations are all up (also took longer than normal) and I am ready to bake bake bake and get festive.   We have already had two holiday dinner parties and my big party is in two weeks.  So I need to start planning and get everything all figured out.   I just love this time of year.

Last year I did 12 days of cookies on the blog and I am going to bring it back again. I love cookies so there is no reason not to do it.  Similar to last year,  these won't be 12 days in a row, I am clearly not prepared to do that. There will be 12 cookies or bar recipes in the month of December though with a GIVEAWAY at the end!  The fact that I am even signing my self up for 12 posts seems like a big task at the rate I have been trending but I will do it.   Maybe I will just have to start blogging at 2 am while I am rocking baby to sleep.  ;-)

Anyway here is cookie #1

Brownie Bowties
(adapted from Fine Cooking - Cookies)

INGREDIENTS:

Dough

• 8 oz (1 3/4 cup) unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 oz ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
• 6 oz cream cheese, cold

Filling

• 2 oz (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 large egg, cold
• 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the Dough

1) Combine and mix together the flour, sugar and salt in your mixer bowl.  

2) Add in the butter in chunks and mix on low speed until the dough resembles coarse pea size crumbs.   Add in cream cheese in chunks and mix on medium low until dough just starts to come together and clumps around the paddle.  

3) Turn dough on to your work surface and bring together to capture any loose pieces.  You want to see streaks of cream cheese.  Shape the dough into two logs, wrap in saran and refrigerate until cold and slightly firm.   If you pass this point and the dough is too hard just let it soften slightly on your counter before rolling. 

Make the Filling:

1) Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium bowl using a double boiler.   Stir to combine until mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat. 

2) Stir in sugar, vanilla and salt.   Stir in egg. 

3) Add the flour and stir until mixture is smooth and glossy.   

4) Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until the thick, at least 1 hour. 

Assemble and Bake

1) Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a two baking sheets with parchment or a silpat. 

2) Remove dough from fridge and ensure it is a temperature that allows it to be rolled out.   Cut the dough in half.   On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick.  Using a ripple square cutter , cut out as many squares as possible and place them on the prepared baking sheet.  

3) Bring dough back together and roll out , repeating with cutting out squares.  Using both halves of dough

4) Scoop a rounded teaspoon of brownie filling and place it in the center of each square.   

5) Fill a small dish or bowl with a bit of water near your work station to be used as an adhesive.   Bring together two opposite sides, place a dab of water on the bottom side and press together to seal the dough.  Repeat with all squares. 

6) Sprinkle the squares with extra granulated sugar.  Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating the pan half way through baking.   Bottoms should be slightly golden.   Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Store in an air tight container for a few days. 

What I like about these cookies is the possibility to change the filling.   I kept the filling to match the recipe this time with just a bit less sugar but I will experiment with different filling flavours in the future because they are a pretty cute cookie. 

MEG's RATING : D-EEEE-LICIOUS!