Chocolate Cookies Dipped in Chocolate-Cherry Sauce with Candy Cane Sprinkles

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie

• 252
  
  grams unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1/2
  
  teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 80
  
  grams confectioners sugar, sifted
  
• 20
  
  grams light brown sugar
  
• 40
  
  grams cocoa powder, I use dutched Drost or Valhrona
  
• 20
  
  grams semi-sweet chocolate, melted
  
• 3 1/3
  
  tablespoons egg whites, lightly whisked
  
• 232
  
  grams all-purpose flour, sifted
  
• 
  
  pinches salt
  

Chocolate – Cherry Dipping Sauce and Candy Cane Sprinkles

• 8
  
  ounces semisweet chocolate pieces (I used Guittard)
  
• 4
  
  ounces cherry preserves, heated (strain the preserves after heating if you want a smooth ganache)
  
• 2
  
  tablespoons sugar
  
• 1
  
  tablespoon light corn syrup
  
• 10
  
  small candy canes
  

Directions

Chocolate Cookie

1. Get set up. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Fit a pastry bag with the piping tip you want to use. I used Ateco #863.
2. Beat the softened butter until it’s light and creamy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the vanilla extract, pinch of salt and add the sugars. Once the sugars are fully incorporated, add the chocolates and egg whites. Mix again until fully mixed in.
3. Add the flour in thirds, folding it in with a spatula until the flour is all just incorporated.
4. Put half the cookie dough into the piping bag and pipe the shape you want. I did rosettes. But you can pipe squiggles, wreaths, hearts (for Valentines), shells, or horseshoes – the shapes are endless. They’ll expand some during baking, but not much, so you can space them 1″ apart without a problem. When you’ve piped all the dough in the bag, fill it up with the other half and continue piping.
5. Bake for 5-6 minutes for cookies that are 1 1/2″ in diameter, or until they’re starting to set up on the outside. If you bake too much longer, they’ll be dry.
6. Immediately put on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.

Chocolate – Cherry Dipping Sauce and Candy Cane Sprinkles

1. Finely chop the chocolate in a food processor to make it easy to melt. Place in a medium bowl. Wipe out the food processor bowl and process the candy canes. Put in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized heavy pot, heat the preserves, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a simmer and immediately pour over the processed chocolate pieces. Stir to melt the chocolate and combine . Bring to room temperature for dipping.
3. Dip each cooled cookie in the chocolate sauce and then sprinkle candy cane sprinkles on both sides. Place on a rack and chill for 1 hour or until the chocolate hardens.