Smiley Face Cookies
Presenting a recipe for simple yet delicious smiley face cookies, filled with super stable chocolate ganache, that doesn’t melt at room temperature.
For the smiling faces, I’ve used a cookie stamp printed out of a 3D printer lol. But you can also draw them using a thick wooden skewer. Whether you add the face or not, these cookies turned out perfectly.
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Last modified:
Smiley Face Cookies:
Equipment: Round cookie cutter, 3cm (d)
Recipe: 75 Filled, sandwiched cookies
Dough:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Softened Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature) | 95g |
| Eggs | 50g (1 Medium sized egg) |
| Powdered Sugar | 80g |
| All Purpose Flour | 125g |
| Cake Flour | 125g |
| Baking Powder | 1/2 tsp |
Chocolate Ganache:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Dark Chocolate (55%) | 152g |
| Heavy Cream (38%) | 39g |
Preparation instructions:
- In a large bowl, using an electric handheld mixer, on medium speed- cream the softened butter with the powdered sugar until creamy (2-3 minutes).
- Gradually stream the eggs while you keep mixing on medium speed, for 2 more minutes. It is important to scrape the bowl occasionally with a spatula, to ensure even mixing.
- Sift the flours and baking powder over the butter mixture and incorporate with cutting like motions. You can knead the dough with your hands when it starts to resist to the spatula.
- Divide the dough into two parts, 235g each.
- Roll each part to a rectangle (the exact size doesn’t matter), 3mm thick, and cut out 3cm (d) circles. The dough is very soft at this stage therefore do not take out the cookies just yet, only cut the shape. I recommend rolling the dough between a piece of parchment paper and a large piece of plastic wrap. It makes transferring the dough very easy and rolling it without the need to flour the counter.
- While the dough is soft enough, draw the smiling faces using a thick wooden skewer, or a cookie stamp, on one part of the dough. Freeze the rolled dough for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 180C (fan mode off), placing a baking rack at the middle shelf inside the oven.
- After the dough had frozen, you can take out the cookies and evenly space them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The remaining dough can be re-rolled to cut more cookies in a similar manner.
- Bake for 7 minutes until the cookies begin to lightly brown at the edge. After the first 3.5 minutes of baking, it is recommended to turn the baking sheet to promote even baking.
- Let the cookies cool down completely on a wire rack before adding the filling.
Assembly:
- To make the ganache, in a bowl, melt the dark chocolate and heavy cream in the microwave and mix to a smooth ganache.
- The working temperature of the ganache should be 35-39C. Note that it sets pretty quickly, and the texture needs to be spreadable (if it sets too much, you can microwave it again for just a few seconds to restore the right texture). Transfer the ganache to a piping bag (which is most convenient IMHO) and make a small 1cm hole at the edge.
- Pipe the ganache on the cookies, but ensure it doesn’t reach all the way to the edge. Cover it with another cookie.
- Wait until the ganache fully sets before storing the cookies inside an airtight container (you can refrigerate the cookies to set the ganache quicker).
