Jamaican Chocolate Cookies with Caramel Creme
I made these for an office party cookie contest—and not a crumb was left on the platter! Sweet potatoes are the secret ingredient. —Noelle Myers, Grand Forks, ND Prep: 45 min. + standing Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling Makes: about 2¹ ₂ dozen sandwich cookies 1 pkg. (11¹ ₂ oz.) semisweet chocolate chunks, divided ¹₂ cup butter, softened ¹₂ cup confectioners’ sugar ¹₂ cup mashed sweet potatoes 1 tsp. minced fresh gingerroot ¹₂ tsp. vanilla extract
1¹ ₄ cups all-purpose flour
¹₄ cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1¹ ₂ tsp. baking powder ¹₄ tsp. baking soda ¹₄ tsp. plus ¹ ₈ tsp. salt, divided ²₃ cup whipped cream cheese ¹₃ cup dulce de leche
2 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk ¹₈ tsp. ground cinnamon ¹₈ tsp. ground allspice
1. Preheat the oven to 375°. In a microwave, melt ²₃ cup chocolate chunks; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in sweet potatoes, cooled chocolate, ginger and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and ¹₄ tsp. salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture.
2. Shape the dough into ³₄-in. balls; place 2¹₂ in. apart on parchmentlined baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in confectioners’ sugar. Bake until the edges are firm, 8-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, whisk cream cheese, dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, allspice and remaining salt until smooth. Spread filling on the bottoms of half of the cookies; cover with remaining cookies. For chocolate coating, microwave the remaining chocolate chunks; stir until smooth. Dip cookies halfway into chocolate; let stand until set. Store between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
1 sandwich cookie: 134 cal., 7g fat
(5g sat. fat), 12mg chol., 103mg sod., 17g carb. (10g sugars, 1g fiber), 2g pro.