Valentine’s day is coming up and these are the perfect dessert to make. They’ve got a chocolate element, as all Valentines day treats should, and raspberry which goes great with the zap of the red wine in the ganache. And, as fancy and festive as these look, they aren’t actually that hard to whip up.
Describe this Cookie to me
Taste: The cookie itself has a buttery and creamy texture, with a hint of raspberry flavor. We use freeze dried raspberries for a natural flavor, and top the baked cookies with a little raspberry jam. The ganache has a rich chocolate flavor, as well as a tart taste from the wine, which is a great partner to the sweet cookie.
Texture: The cookies have a little crunch at first, but a soft interior. The ganache is smooth and melts in your mouth, blending perfectly with the cookie. The raspberry adds a little fruity-ness, which mixes with the ganache making the perfect pair.
Ease: These are of medium difficulty. The cookie is a simple dough, following familiar rules. It does need to freeze for 40 minutes though, so leave time! The ganache is a little more complicated than some versions. We have to simmer the wine, cream, cocoa powder, and sugar together for five minutes. Then add your chocolate, butter, and stir to combine. The ganache needs to chill for a while to thicken enough to spread, so plan to leave time for that too!
The Cookie
These are the same cookies I use in my raspberry chocolate floofs. (another great Valentine’s Day treat!). It’s a soft and creamy cookie, flavored with natural freeze dried raspberries to give you a real raspberry taste. The cream cheese adds a buttery element to the tart raspberry and takes the flavors to the next level. It’s a simple dough to whip up, but you have to leave some time to chill it. Shaping is easy, I just cut out some circles and punch heart shapes out of half of them to make them extra special!
The Filling
The filling for these is one of my favorites. If you have been following my blog, then you may have noticed how frequently I use chocolate ganache. What can I say? It’s easy, quick, and oh so decadent. But this ganache is a little different. It’s a red wine ganache. This makes it extra special for Valentine’s Day. It’s got a little more complex flavor and the tartness of the wine pairs amazingly with the subtle raspberry in the cookie. It takes a little bit longer than a normal ganache, but it is well worth it.
Troubleshooting
Raspberries: Make sure you are using freeze dried raspberries, not the gummy ones. We want to use this as a powder in the cookies. If you can’t get your hands on raspberries, strawberry works well too!
Cream Cheese: On addition to butter, we also use cream cheese. This gives us a creamy, buttery cookie with a little extra twang.
Freeze the dough: This step is crucial. We need to freeze the dough before cutting out the cookies. If you don’t the cookies will be hard to shape, and melt in the oven. No thank you.
Ganache: Be patient with the ganache. When simmering the cream and wine mixture, make sure you don’t let it boil or go for too long. This will mess with the flavor and texture. Here is perhaps the biggest tip of all: let the ganache thicken in the fridge. If you skip this, the cookies will be a mess. While chilling in the fridge, make sure to stir it every once in a while or it might split.
Raspberry Cookies with Red Wine Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Raspberry Cookies
- 2 cups freeze dried raspberries*
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 ounce block cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Red Wine Chocolate Ganache
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup red wine * ( I use Zinfandel)
- 1½ Tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounces 60% bittersweet chocolate* coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature and sliced
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the cookies
- In a food processor, pulse the freeze dried raspberries until they become a fine powder. You will have about ½ cup. If you have freeze dried raspberry powder, instead of whole freeze dried raspberries, you may skip this step and move onto the next one.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the freeze dried raspberry powder, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until combined and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Avoid over mixing. The dough will be soft and creamy.
- Flour your hands and a rolling pin. Divide the dough in half. Roll one of the halves of dough to a ¼ inch thickness on a floured piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. It can be any shape. Repeat with the other half of dough on a separate piece of floured parchment paper or silicon baking mat. Flour the tops of both rolled out doughs and stack them on top of each other, with the parchment or mat still in between. Cover with a piece of cling wrap and place in the freezer for 30-40 minutes.
- Once the dough has chilled, Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Remove one sheet of dough and, using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Re-roll and cut the remaining dough scraps. I punch a heart shaped hole out of half of them to make these a little more festive, but you can skip this step. Repeat with the second sheet of dough.
- Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the red wine ganache
- While the cookies bake and cool, make the ganache. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, wine, cocoa powder, and sugar over medium heat. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, butter, and salt until everything is melted and combined.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes at room temperature, and then transfer to the fridge to cool for 30-40 minutes. Make sure to stir it every 5-10 minutes, or the chocolate may seize up. You are looking for a spreadable consistency.
Assemble the cookies
- On the bottom side of one cookie, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam. Top with about ½ Tablespoon of that thickened red wine ganache and sandwich another cookie on top. Repeat with the remaining cookies. You will have some leftover ganache, which is fine! Look at the recipe notes for suggestions for what to do with it. The ganache will set on the cookies as it cools, so I recommend waiting a few hours before eating them.
- Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, and a week in the fridge.