Welcome back everyone. Today is our second post of the Halloween Movie Series. Todays movie: Corpse Bride.
I have a bit of a history with Corpse Bride. I first watched it five or something years ago, and I did NOT like it. It creeped me out. Not because of the undead thing, but because Victor and Victoria’s parents were scary. And in my defense, they are supposed to be scary because Tim Burton wanted them to be unlikeable. But they aren’t really supposed to be the horror element of the movie.
Anyway, I watched it again a few years later and discovered I actually really like it. Now, I watch it at least once every October. I also love to listen to the soundtrack (I’m listening to it now as I write this post).
I feel like these cookies are only “Corpse Bride cookies” if you know the movie. Does that make sense? The blue butterflies are kind of a big thing in the movie though, so maybe it’s not as subtle as I thought it was. Whatever, a cookie’s a cookie.
Taking a break from cookies for a minute, my computer’s back! Last post I was complaining about how it had broken and I was having to use the family one, which formats my recipes all funky. But for todays post (which I’m actually writing Friday night) I’m back with the good old Mac. And aside from it being good that the problem was smaller than we thought and we don’t have to spend a whole bunch of money on a whole new computer, I’m really happy I still have my stickers. It’s a little silly, but I really like the stickers on my computer and it would be a shame for them to go to waste.
Ok back to your regularly scheduled cookie post, let’s go a little more into detail. These cookies are a lovely ginger sugar cookie, stamped with a butterfly and sandwiched with dark chocolate ganache.
Describe These Cookies to Me
Taste: These cookies are perfectly balanced between the sweet sugar cookies and rich chocolate ganache. The cookies are flavored with ginger and vanilla, which subtly compliment the more intense chocolate filling.
Texture: The cookies have a slightly crisp outside, but are perfectly soft in the center. The ganache is solid enough that it holds its shape, but it’s still soft enough that it perfectly melts in your mouth.
Ease: These cookies are about as simple as they look. Are they as quick and easy as a chocolate chip cookie? No, but they also aren’t very difficult. The sugar cookie dough is pretty standard, and the butterfly shape just comes from a cookie stamp, so it’s not tricky either. Bake those up, and whip up a quick chocolate ganache to make your cute little sandwiches!
Ginger Chocolate
Ginger and chocolate is quickly becoming one of my favorite flavor combinations. You really wouldn’t think the two would go well together, but they truly do. The slight spiciness of the ginger, brought out with sweet vanilla in the buttery cookies, contrasts the bittersweet chocolate ganache in the best possible way.
The Dough
The dough for these cookies is a pretty standard sugar cookie dough, with the addition of ground ginger. There isn’t a lot of baking powder in there, because we don’t want the cookies to rise and lose the butterfly stamp. Because we’re trying to keep the butterfly defined, its very important the dough is the right consistency. To help make sure these cookies don’t spread, the dough is chilled for two hours, and then the shaped cookies get frozen for 10 minutes before baking. This assures we can see that lovely design.
The Filling
This is gonna be a really quick paragraph because the filling is just a chocolate ganache. Now that might sound fancy to some, but it’s just warm cream poured over chocolate. I throw in a little vanilla and salt, plus a few drops of black food coloring for the spooky vibes, nothing too complicated. The ganache will set up nicely, so your cookies shouldn’t be sliding around.
Corpse Bride Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Set aside,
- In a large mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until *almost* mixed. Add a few drops of blue food coloring and purple food coloring and mix until evenly combined and colored. (use a little less of the purple, it's main purpose is to get rid of the green tint)
- Once mixed, split the dough in half and press each half into a disk, about half an inch thick. Wrap each disk in cling wrap and chill for 2 hours.
- Remove one disk of dough from the fridge and unwrap it. Place it on a floured work surface and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness and and cut cookies using a 2-3 inch round cookie cutter. Re-roll any scraps. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat about 1 ½ inches apart. Dip your butterfly cookie stamp in flour to prevent it from sticking to the cookie and stamp each cookie. Make sure you press hard enough that you get a prominent imprint. Place the cookie tray in the freezer for 10 minutes so the cookies can firm up and keep their shape. Repeat with the second disk of dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Bake chilled cookies for 10-12 minutes or until set and browned slightly on the bottoms. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof mixing bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once simmering, pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it stand for 3-5 minutes to soften the chocolate, then stir until chocolate is melted and you have a smooth and glossy ganache. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and black food coloring if using. Let the ganache cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally until thickened to a spreadable consistency.
- Once cooled and thickened, spread a little less that one tablespoon on the flat side of one cooled cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat with all the cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh sealed at room temperature for up to 4 days. Enjoy!