dulce de leche cookies

So these cookies?  I don't really know what to make of them.  

You know when you have a very fixed idea in your head about what something is going to be like and then it turns out to be completely different?  Yeah, that's what happened here.  

Actually, I do that all the time.  I imagine places and people and conversations and then I'm always thrown by the reality which is never what I thought it would be.  

So anyway, in my head, these cookies would be soft and buttery, sweet from the dulce de leche but not too sweet that they couldn't handle a dulce de leche sandwich.  

I took the first batch out of the oven and made a face; they were paper thin and without seconds had begun to harden into what looked to me like a mass of molten sugar.  They didn't look like any cookies that I'd before and they certainly didn't look like the fantasy cookies that I'd created in my mind.  I was so disappointed that I threw the whole lot away and, without pausing for thought, whipped up a second batch using a slightly different version of the recipe that I found on Joy the Baker.  

With stunning inevitability, the second batch turned out almost exactly like the first but this time I decided to have a little faith.  I left the cookies to cool and decided to whip up a chocolate ganache to fill the cookies.  If all else fails, chocolate helps right?

And I'm so glad that I decided to give them a second chance.  When the cookies had the chance to cool, they were perfectly crisp but chewy and the fact that they are so thin means that you can happily sandwich two together without feeling like you're eating something inhuman.  For me, having dulce de leche in the middle would have been too much and I'm glad I went for a dark chocolate filling instead but your mileage may vary.  I learnt a couple of important lessons from this experience.  First of all, actually read the recipe before you start imagining the end result.  And secondly, just because a recipe doesn't turn out how you expected, it doesn't mean that it's not going to make a bunch of the tastiest cookies in the world.  

Dulce de leche cookies (makes about 30 sandwich cookies)

From Dorie Greenspan via Joy the Baker 

225g unsalted butter

3/4 jar of dulce de leche

135g light brown sugar

110g caster sugar

2 large eggs

285g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

150g dark chocolate

150g double cream

1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  

2.  In a large bowl, beat the butter until softened and then add the dulce de leche and sugar.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and continue to beat until incorporated.  

3.  Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.  

4.  Using a teaspoon, spoon the dough onto the baking sheets leaving at least 2 inches for the dough to spread. 

5.  Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.  When you take them out, they will be fairly soft but they start to harden up within a couple of minutes.  When they have started to harden up, remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.  

6.  To make the chocolate filling, break up the chocolate and place it in a large bowl.  Heat the cream in a saucepan until it's just boiling.  Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth and glossy.  Allow to cool before sandwiching two cookies together with a tsp of chocolate filling.