Cafe Con Leche Black & White Cookies
by Jhanaya Belle
After discovering her respect, and love for storytelling through multimedia, Jhanaya Belle became elated with how writers can deeply move their audience. The Brooklyn native and New School alumna is keen to add her contributions to the sphere of writing and storytelling, through journalist, radio/podcast host, and screenwriting. Continuously looking for new, and unheard narratives, Jhanaya spends her time researching and continuously hounds her crafts of storytelling through journalism, radio/podcast hosting, and screenwriting.
Source: CLEO TV / CLEO TV
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all - purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- .
- For the ganache’s:
- 3 ½ ounces dark chocolate, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 - 2 tablespoon evaporated milk
- Pinch of salt
- .
- For garnishing
- Gold leaf (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed 18-by-13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter on low speed until blended. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, scraping down the bowl once or twice, 2 to 5 minutes. Beating the egg. Scrape down the bowl once more. In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk and vanilla; on low speed, beat into the butter mixture. In a separate medium bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, rye flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in the stand mixer. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together (the dough will seem sticky but you want it to look that way!). Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop out 8 cookies and arrange them on the sheet pan, spaced at least 1 1/2 inches apart (alternatively, you can use a 1 1/2-inchcookie scoop to make 12 cookies; reduce baking time accordingly). Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours and up to overnight. For Make the dark chocolate ganache and evaporated milk icing: Place dark chocolate, espresso powder, salt and corn syrup in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until just about to simmer. Pour the hot cream into the bowl of chocolate; let stand for 1 minute. Using a whisk, stir the chocolate ganache until chocolate is melted. Set aside your bowl to cool slightly until thickened enough to spread on the cookies, about 10 minutes. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and snip a small tip off the end. 2.Place your powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of your evaporated milk and whisk until smooth. Transfer your icing to a piping bag and snip a small tip off the end. 3.To decorate, turn all the cookies so their flat bottoms are facing up on the wire rack. Pipe your chocolate ganache over half of each cookie to form a semi-circle; smooth the chocolate with an offset spatula. Let your ganache set before adding your icing-Let the chocolate set, about 20 minutes. Pipeyour icing on the other side, taking care to create a sharp, clean line in the middle, smooth with a clean offset spatula. If using the gold leaf, use a small paintbrush to dab small pieces of gold leaf on top of the cookies. Enjoy!