Holiday Cookies- Expresso Cream Sables : DBC November, 2012

This month's daring baker challenge was to bake some cookies for the holidays. Something out of the box and not the same old same old. Peta from Peta Eats provided us with 12 awesome recipes. It was very hard to pick one, so I did make more than one, as you will see in the weeks that follow. She gave us the recipe for  almond nutmeg sables, since I had already baked with almonds in lebkuchen, I picked espresso cream sables.

Now for the blog checking lines :  Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

10 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Espresso cream:

1 1/2cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk and more

In a medium bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix in the dry ingredients until a smooth dough forms

 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350F.

To make the espresso cream filling, mix together the powdered sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and milk until all the ingredients are wet. Beat the filling on high speed for 90 seconds, adding ½ teaspoon of milk at a time, if necessary, to achieve a thick frosting consistency.

Roll out the disk of dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut out the sables using a  cookie cutter. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, or until they are lightly browned around the edges.

Cool the sables for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling with espresso cream.

Fill with espresso cream and enjoy the bitter- sweet coffee filling !