Chocolate Ricotta Sandwiches

The only thing I've made out of the Chocolate cookbook my friend gave me is the honeycomb.  I went through and tabbed recipes.  Not as many made the cut as I would have expected from a book devoted to chocolate.  The biggest hindrance to making most of them was that I didn't feel like buying the ingredients.  There are a lot of specialty one-offs in most of the recipes.  Then there was the reason that I already have a version of whatever recipe on this blog and did not feel the need to make it.

These cookies are mostly made with stuff I already had.  I even had just 1/4 C almond flour left.  I'm going to post the ricotta filling, but as you can see from the photo I used marshmallow fluff out of the jar.  The ricotta filling is a standard cannoli filling, and probably tastes great, but I was making these to freeze the cookie part and pull out as needed.  The filling cannot be frozen, and lasts maybe a week in the fridge, but fluff in a jar can hang out in the pantry almost indefinitely.  If I make these to take to a Christmas party or something, I'll definitely do the filling.

I was expecting these to spread out and be crisp because of the high ratio of butter and sugar to flour, but this got a bit excessive.  The first sheet ran together into almost a solid mass.  I was very glad I had decided to bake that sheet while the rest of the dough firmed back up.  The recipe didn't need that much help to look like the photo in the book, so I'm adding half a cup of flour (because I like a fluffy cookie; use 1-1/4 C for thin), a wee bit more baking powder, and the recommendation to re-chill them once shaped.

Cookies
1-1/2 C flour
*1/4 C almond flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 C sugar
3/4 C unsalted butter (or margarine and omit the salt above)
1 egg

Filling
1/2 C ricotta cheese
4 oz (1/2 brick) cream cheese
1 Tb sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla


1.  Place flour, almond flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt (if using) and sugar in food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add butter in chunks and the egg.  Process until mixture comes together as a soft dough.

2.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes (or freeze up to 1 month).

3.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375º.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat.

4.  Roll level tablespoons of dough into balls and place on prepared sheets about 2" apart.  Yes, they're small, but they spread out and you get two per sandwich.  Flatten sightly.  Chill tray for 10 minutes.  Bake 8-10 minutes, until not quite firm in the middle.  You can't go by color with a chocolate cookie.  Rotate baking sheets halfway through for even baking.

5.  Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes, until firm enough to move.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6.  While they're cooling, make the filling.  Beat together both cheeses, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla with a spoon until smooth.

7.  Place a dollop of filling between two cookies and lightly press together.  Serve immediately.  Naked cookies can be stored in a sealed container for several days or freezer for a month.  Filling can be refrigerated up to a week; you'll need to beat it again into a spreadable consistency.  Once filled, cookies last no more than 4 hours at room temperature and should not be refrigerated.  (If you go the marshmallow fluff route, you can keep them out a full day.)

Makes about  18-20 filled cookies

Difficulty rating  π