Description
These espresso chai sandwich cookies are buttery, melt in your mouth, shortbread cookies frosted with a layer of chai spice buttercream sandwiched in between strong espresso flavoured cookies. They will truly dazzle at your next holiday celebration!
Ingredients
Scale
SHORTBREAD COOKIES
- 310g (2½ cups) all purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 100g (½ cup) granulated or caster sugar
- 2 tablespoon espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling hot water
- 1 teaspoon pure almond or vanilla extract
CHAI BUTTERCREAM
- 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 410g (3½ cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- 60ml (¼ cup) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is fluffy and pale yellow. Add in the freshly brewed espresso and almond extract. Then, add the flour a cup at a time, until you have a crumbly dough that’s starting to come together.
- Turn the dough onto a pastry or cutting board. Press the dough together with clean hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. Cut the dough into two, and flatten each portion into a 1/2” disc. Wrap with plastic wrap, and freeze for about 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each disc of dough until it’s 1/4” thick. Cut out an even number of 3” fluted cookies with a cookie cutter.
- Place the cookies 1” apart on the prepared sheets, and bake for 10-11 minutes, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, and then move the cookies to a wire rack to completely cool.
- Beat softened butter on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 1 minute.
- Add the chai spice and beat until thick and creamy, about 2 full minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or looks too wet. And then add more salt to offset added sweetness.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the back side of half the shortbread cookies as desired. Top the buttercream cookies with another shortbread cookies to form a cookie sandwich. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Christmas cookies, sandwich cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chai espresso sandwich cookies, espresso chai sandwich cookies, chai latte cookies, espresso chai cookies