Baking with Olivia and Caroline

Soft, sugar cookie base, creamy vanilla custard middle, and chocolate ganache topping! Who could resist these little bite sized delightful treats? These cookies seem like they require a lot of steps, but they really don’t. The cookies themselves come together in just minutes with minimal ingredients. The custard just takes patience, and the ganache is super simple and again just requires about three minutes of your time. The longest part of this entire process is waiting for everything to cool so you can assemble them.

Ingredients for the cookie cups

• 1 cup salted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• ¾ tablespoon vanilla (we always use pure vanilla extract)

Directions for the cookie cups (makes 24)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Lightly spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray
• Cream the butter and the sugar together with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed. The mixture will appear to be a little grainy, but that is how the mixture is supposed to appear
• Add the flour to the butter and sugar mixture and combine
• Add the vanilla and mix until it all comes together. Don’t over mix though. You want the mixture mixed well enough to form 1” balls
• Form the dough into 1” balls and press into the mini muffin tins. Use the back of a teaspoon to make a depression.
• Bake for 8-11 minutes or until slightly golden brown on the edges
• Remove from oven and use the back of the teaspoon again to make a depression to allow for the addition of the custard
• Let cool for a few minutes
• Remove the warm cookie cups from the tins and place on a cooling rack
• While cookie cups are cooling make the custard

Ingredients for the vanilla custard

•  2 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for the vanilla custard

• Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and milk in a medium saucepan
• Place the egg yolks in a small bowl and lightly whisk; set aside (give the whites to your dog(s) if you have any.  Our dogs love this step!
• Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and milk until smooth and cook over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens up a bit, stirring constantly
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes
• Remove from the heat
• Temper the egg yolks by slowly adding a little bit of the milk mixture to the yolks and whisk, then slowly add the egg mixture to the milk mixture
• Place the saucepan back on the burner and bring to a light boil while continuing to stir constantly for 2 minutes
• Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and the tablespoon of butter
• Pour the custard into a small bowl and cover the with clear wrap and place in the fridge until cool (the clear wrap should sit on top of the custard)

Ingredients for the chocolate ganache

• 8oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup  heavy cream

Directions for chocolate ganache

• Heat heavy cream on the stove or in a microwave until it just comes to a boil. Don’t allow it to boil!
• Pour the hot heavy cream on the semi-sweet chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes, then stir to combine
• Allow to cool before decorating your cookies.

We spooned the chilled custard into the cookie cups and then piped the ganache on top. If you don’t have a decorating bag, no worries, use a spoon, you don’t have to get all fancy with these bad boys because they will be devoured regardless. With the cookies, don’t worry if they seem a little underbaked when you take them out of the oven. They will firm up a bit while they cool in their tins. You don’t want a hard sugar cookie for this recipe.

Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy and think spring!

Olivia and Caroline are enthusiastic foodies and bakers who are constantly in the kitchen, as well as explorers who create their own adventures in our area – and did we mention they are mother and daughter? Follow Olivia on Instagram to see her many creations at @oliviawvalentine.