Ganache Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome back to QCK!

This weekend was cold and rainy so I spent all day Saturday and Sunday inside catching up on chores and testing some recipes. It felt so good to get caught up. Actually, even better than I thought. I sometimes don’t realize how much I need to get certain things done until I do them. You know those little voices in your head reminding you to clean your car or send in that paperwork? I spent a lot of time this weekend silencing those. Now I’m clear minded and ready for a busy week of cooking and writing!

In the mix of everything, this amazing cookie recipe was born. These are soft, chewy, cakey brown sugar chocolate chip cookies stuffed with chocolate ganache. They’re like the ultimate Sunday Bake. Or any day really. Which is why I’m posting them on a Monday.

I love every little thing about these, but I especially love what the brown sugar in this recipe does. Using all brown sugar gives the cookies an incredibly rich flavor but also a perfect chew. These are my all time favorite cookies because of that alone. And honestly, they’re still amazing without the ganache. It’s just an all around great recipe.

Substitutions and Add On’s

• If you don’t want to make ganache, just skip it. These cookies are great with or without it. No ganache means shorter bake time. 7-9 minutes.
• You can use any kind of chocolate you want for the ganache.
• If you want to go a step further you can use brown butter, just make sure to use an additional 3 Tbsp of butter because you lose some in the browning processes. So the recipe would now call for 1 C + 3 Tbsp of butter.
• Soft Caramel (store bought or homemade) would be an amazing addition to these. You for the cookie dough “disc” shmear the ganache in the center, and then place a small piece of soft caramel in the middle and fold the dough around it.
• Peanut Butter would also be awesome. I would suggest mixing the finished ganache with the peanut butter, cooling, and then forming balls to place in the center of the cookie.
• Sea Salt is great on any cookie. Just sprinkle your favorite on top when they come out of the oven for a little extra texture and flavor.

Tips and Tricks

• I find that these cookies actually come out much better when mixed by hand rather than in an electric mixer. So break out the bowl and wooden spoon!
• When forming the dough around the ganache, the dough tends to break in places, don’t panic! Just roll it between your palms. If some ganache gets on the outside it’s no big deal.
• I like to use a cookie scoop to form the ganache balls and freeze them. Use a scoop 1/4 of the size you plan to make your cookies to get the perfect ratio of ganache to cookie.
• These take a bit longer to bake than the average cookie because they have to be thick enough to hold the ganache in on all sides. They might look perfectly done on the outside, but the inside will still need some time. Trust your instincts.

Recipe

Prep: 15 Min

Rest: 2 Hours

Bake: 12-15

Yield: 12 Cookies

Ingredients

For the Ganache

• 1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
• 3/4 C Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

For the Cookies

• 1 C (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 1/2 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 C All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt or Flaky Sea Salt
• 3/4 C Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. For the ganache, add chocolate chips to a small bowl, then pour warm cream over top. Let it sit for 30 seconds, then mix well until a thick, evenly colored ganache forms. 1-2 Minutes.
2. Place in the refrigerator at least one hour or until firm enough to scoop into a ball.
3. In the meantime, start the cookie dough. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter. Stir well until it reaches a caramel-like consistency. 2-3 Minutes.
4. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix well.
5. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
6. Add dry to wet and mix until dough forms, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
7. Fold in the chocolate chips.
8. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes up to 4 hours.
9. Once the ganache is set, use a small cookie scoop or spoon to make balls. The balls should be 1/4 the size of what you plan to make the cookies. 1/4 inch balls if you plan to make 1-inch cookie dough balls.
10. Place the ganaches balls onto a parchment lined sheet tray and into the freezer 30 minutes- 1 hour or until firm to the touch.
11. Once the ganache and cookie dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 375°F.
12. Scoop the cookie dough and flatten it into a round disk. Place the ganache ball in the center and form the dough around the ball so it’s completely covered.
13. Roll the ball between your hands so it’s smooth on all sides.
14. Place the balls on a greased, parchment lined sheet tray 1.5-2 inches apart.
15. Bake 12-15 minutes or until baked all the way through and ganache is melted.
16. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading! 

Advertisement