Ganache Goodness

Girls' Night = great female company, plenty of food, and bubbly beverages.

Hard to beat, isn't it?

Tonight's girls' night, hosted by my friend Kate, will certainly bring some much-needed relaxation. Hot tub included. We're all looking forward to escaping the hustle and bustle of town, as Kate lives buried in the snow-capped mountains of neighboring Preston County. (I'm only slightly embarrassed that I just used the phrase "hustle and bustle." I'm definitely 26 going on 75).

I'll be making both a sweet and savory contribution to tonight's festivities, and since we all need more chocolate + peanut butter in our lives, let's begin with the sweet: Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies.

Brace yourselves. Dangerously awesome cookie recipe to follow.

As melt-in-your-mouth luscious as these sandwich cookies sound, multiply that times 400 and you might come close to how delicious they are. The ganache is a simple filling made with fine milk chocolate, peanut butter, and cream. Does it get any better? Yep: The cookies are a slightly crisp, very rich, and viciously good.

This recipe comes for Epicurious, famous for their gourmet recipes and features from Bon Appetit and Gourmet. When it comes to desserts, they won't steer you wrong.

I'd offer you a cookie, but I doubt there will be any left by the end of the night.

What's your favorite girls' night culinary indulgence?

Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies

(recipe from Epicurious)

As noted above, these little sandwich cookies are dangerously good. Let's face it: anything with ganache is hard to turn down. You could sandwich ganache between two mushrooms and I just might eat it.

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 6 TBSP butter
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 - 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 - 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache Ingredients:

• 3 oz. fine milk chocolate
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 TBSP powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 6 TBSP whipping cream

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.

2) Beat powdered sugar, brown sugar, and butter together until smooth. Add peanut butter and beat until well-combined. Beat in oil. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Inn a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat dry ingredients into batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

3) Spoon rounded tablespoon-fuls of cookie dough onto baking sheet. I shaped mine into neat little circles since I knew they'd be sandwich cookies :) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes (mine were done at 11 or 12 minutes), or until puffed and just lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool on wire racks completely.

4) To prepare the ganache, place the chocolate, peanut butter, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the cream is boiling, pour it over the other ingredients and stir until completely melted (I had to microwave the mixture for 10 additional seconds to smooth out the lumps of chocolate). Refrigerate the ganache until spreadable, about one hour.

5) To make these splendid sandwiches, spread one tablespoon of ganache on a cookie and top with another cookie. Promptly eat. Repeat.