Dark Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies: Holiday Baking with Land O’ Lakes! #HolidayButter

     The holiday season is here and you know what that means...holiday baking!   I’ve already started baking cookies, cakes, and other treats for my friends and family.  There’s nothing quite like getting started with butter and sugar and whipping it up into fresh baked cookies or treats.  One of my favorite things to gift during the holidays are homemade treats because they are baked with love with the person in mind.

This year Land O’ Lakes is making it easy for me to decide on what to make with their 2013 Holiday Gift Giving Brochure.  They have everything from Gingerdoodle and Brown Butter Blondies to Savory Parmesan Thumbprints and Rosemary Blue Cheese Straws!  I wanted to make one of everything so to get started I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up Land O’ Lakes Butter Sticks, Land O’ Lakes eggs, sugar, flour, and any other goodies I might need in my baking adventure.

I started by making the Dark Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies because I thought they would easy to ship to my family in Pittsburgh.  The chocolate cookies were easy to whip up and while the dough was refrigerating I was able to mix up the mint filling that goes in the middle.   Once the cookie dough came out of the refrigerator it was firm enough to roll, cut, and bake.

Once the cookies were cool I divided the mint filling into two bowls and colored one red and the other green.  Spooning the filling into zip top baggies, I cut off the corners and piped the filling easily into the center of the cookies to make the sandwiches.

Then I got to work on making a container to hold the cookies.  I had a few tall cylinder snack containers that I had washed and set aside earlier in the week.  In order to turn them into gift containers I found a few sheets of festive scrapbook paper (wrapping paper would work as well).  I cut the paper to overlap slightly around the tube and then I used hot glue to stick the paper to the container.  Next I placed a holiday tag on the container and wrote “cookies” on it.  Simple, cute, and perfect for shipping!

Although I already had one treat ready to go I wasn’t finished with my holiday baking.  I could hardly resist the Brown Butter Blondies.  They were filled with white chocolate chips, browned butter, brown sugar, and pecans.  Want to see the recipe?  Go to Land O Lakes Holiday Gift Giving Brochure and find the recipe for Brown Butter Blondies as well as many other spectacular holiday baked goods perfect giving as gifts.

Dark Chocolate Mint Cookie Sandwiches (recipe source:  Land O’ Lakes)

Cookies:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark or black unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

Directions

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in bowl; mix well. Set aside.

Combine 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and 3/4 cup butter in bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy.

Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Gradually add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well mixed.
Divide dough in half. Shape each half into ball; flatten slightly. Wrap each in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm.

Heat oven to 375ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Roll out dough on cocoa powder-dusted surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch round cookie cutter. Place, 1 inch apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to cooling rack; cool completely.

Beat 1/2 cup butter and shortening in bowl until creamy. Add powdered sugar, peppermint extract and food color, if desired. Beat at low speed until well mixed.

Spread 2 teaspoons filling onto bottom-side of one cookie; top with another cookie, bottom-side down. Store covered.