Ginger-Spice Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream Filling

I've been having a great weekend! My Dad is here visiting, so we went out for a great dinner last night and spent the day hanging out together. Plus, the weather is nicer than its been in quite some time here, so all in all its been a good weekend! Since I'm feeling pretty joyful, I thought I would share a recipe with you that brought me a lot of joy and satisfaction - ginger-spice sandwich cookies with lemon cream. Mmmmmmm!!! I had never tried sandwich cookies before, but decided plain old cookies weren't really special enough to make for my hubby's Superbowl party last month, so I decided on this recipe from the Best of Fine Cooking Magazine - Tailgating 2010. It was definitely a good call - all of the cookies were devoured during the party and people raved about them! They were so perfect - the right amount of spice in the cookies countered with the sweet lemon cream inside the cookies. Next time I make them I'll be sure to put even more filling in them.


The cookies weren't nearly as much work as I thought they would be which is always a plus. And if you put the filling into a piping bag and pipe the filling onto the cookies, filling them is a breeze - speedy with minimal cleanup. If you make them, put about double the filling you see piped on them in the picture below, and make them the night before that way the cookies can soak up some of the filling making them extra moist and delicious.

Ginger-Spice Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream

Recipe from the Best of Fine Cooking magazine - Tailgating 2010

Cookie Ingredients:

• 9 oz (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Lemon Cream Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 6 oz (1 1/2 cups) confectioners sugar

Method:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
4. Put about 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using your hands, roll about a tsp of dough into 1-inch ball. Roll each ball in sugar and arrange about 2 inches apare on the lined baking sheets. Use the bottom of a gladd to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies feel dry to the touch and are beginning to firm up (they'll still feel soft inside), 12-14 minutes. Cool completely on racks.
5. Make the lemon cream: with a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese and lemon zest in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners sugar and continue to mix until smooth.
6. Assemble the cookies: pipe filling liberally onto the center of a cookie, top with another cookie, then gently press them. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.

If you want to serve them up pretty, you can put them on a plate with some candied ginger. It adds a nice touch!

I hope you're having an exciting weekend! Filled with friends, family and fun times. I am heading out of town again for work (leaving tomorrow), out to the middle of no where... so blogging may be somewhat intermittent, so please bear with me. :) Hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to try out these little bits of heaven!

Happy Baking my Friends!