Chocolate Ambivalence Sandwich Cookies

. Ambivalence \noun\ am-'bi-ve-len(t)s\:  The state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or a thing; e.g., the feeling of both love and hate for a person.

Okay, so not exactly what I figured would come up when I Googled 'ambivalence.'  And I'm not even really sure how 'ambivalence' coincides with these cookies, except for the fact that I LOVE them and maybe I hate them because I want to eat them all!?  Go with me here...

These cookie sandwiches turned out huge, rich, and I have to say, quite pretty.  And what do you know, just in time for Valentine's Day!

The cooke itself is more of a shortbread texture and not terribly sweet (but still good in itself!).  Then the sandwiches are made by slathering melted white chocolate in the middle and the final touch?  Dippin Drenching half of the sandwich cookie with melted milk or semisweet chocolate!  And dare I say, try double dipping the cookies in both chocolates for extra decadence (but make sure to let the first layer set before dipping again in a different chocolate). 

This recipe comes from my favorite baking book, A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman, and she has YET to let me down.

Try these out for your special Valentine sweetie, or hey, just because you can!  Either way, you'll have an indulgent treat for yourself (and in the end, that's all that matters).  Okay, get bakin'! .

Chocolate Ambivalence Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookie:

1-1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1-1/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

Pinch of ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:

8 oz. premium-quality white chocolate, melted

Dipping Chocolate:

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

4 oz. milk chocolate

Directions:

1.  In mixer bowl, cream butter and both sugars.  Add vanilla extract, then fold in flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Blend well to make soft dough.  Pack onto parchment paper and wrap and chill 30 to 45 minutes (or up to a few days).

2.  Heat oven to 350°F.  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

3.  Roll out chilled dough on well-floured work surface to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut into heart shapes of about 3 to 3-1/2 inches.  Arrange cookies on baking sheet.

4.  Bake 15 to 17 minutes and let cool completely.

5.  To assemble, smear melted white chocolate on one cookie and top with another.  Repeat with all cookies.  Let set.

6.  Dip half of each cookie sandwich in melted milk or semisweet chocolate.  Or drizzle both types of chocolate on top.  Let set.

Yield: 28 to 32 cookie sandwiches

*My Notes:

• When folding in the dry ingredients, you're going to have to call on those muscles a little bit.  Seriously, I got my arm workout for the day.  But now that I read back over the recipe, I would fold in the dry ingredients just slightly, and finish incorporating with the mixer.  That'll make life much easier.
• Okay, not going to lie, I hate rolling out any types of dough (unless it rolls like play dough!).  And this one definitely does not.  But don't worry, my tip will help!  The recipe says to chill the dough, which I would still do, but I found that the closer the dough got to room temperature, the easier it was to work with.  Otherwise the dough was UBER crumbly.  So once it's chilled, let the dough sit out for a few minutes before you attempt rolling.
• If you don't have a heart cookie-cutter lying around, don't fret.  Any cookie cutter will do just fine, this was just my attempt at being a little festive.  
• For all of the chocolates, I used Guittard chips and melted them in bowls.  As always, I highly recommend using the best quality chocolate available to you since it's such a large component of this recipe.  The melted milk chocolate was definitely MUCH thicker than the other two, so I ended up just using a knife to coat the sandwiches.  It worked out really well, so if you have any trouble, avert to the utensils!  Then let the sandwiches set.  It will take all of your willpower to not dive right in, but you don't want chocolate all over your fingers and face (wait a minute, maybe you do...). 
• I think my cookie cutter was a bit large and I rolled the dough out a little thick, so I only came out with 18 sandwich cookies.  Still, a fair amount, but just wanted to make a note ☺