Butterbeer Cookies {Creative Cookie Contest Winner}

Harry Potter fans will love these Butterbeer Cookies filled with butterscotch ganache.

Harry Potter cookies, anyone?

I like to think that if I was ever invited to Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat would place me in Gryffindor. If we are being honest, I’m more of a Ravenclaw, but I think we all know that their are only two real houses at Hogwarts — Gryffindor or Not Gryffindor. So.

I am a huge HP fan (Team Snape – not sorry), so I was thrilled to see these cookies submitted to the Creative Cookie Contest I hosted with Cookies and Cups! I am always SO inspired by my readers’ skill and creativity and always look forward to these contests — choosing a winner never gets easier, though! This year, we chose three finalists and let YOU guys choose the winner — these were the clear favorite.

These cookies are super simple, which only adds to their charm! A very short ingredient list — butter, powdered sugar, extract, flour, butterscotch chips, heavy cream.

I also think they’d be lovely with melted caramel drizzled over the top, but I am a boundary pusher like that.

But only when it comes to sugar.

And my beauty products budget.

And what qualifies as an acceptable dinner. Cough, pizza rolls, cough.

The cookies themselves are a buttery shortbread, which are is then filled with butterscotch ganache. These would be so fun at a Harry Potter themed party! Also can you invite me?

I don’t get invited to parties very often.

I did tweak the recipe directions just a tiny tad and am adding those as notes to the recipe. I had a toddler on my hip while I was making these, so it’s possible I added a smidge too much flour and needed to add a couple teaspoons of water so the dough wasn’t too dry. Have you ever had a 30 pound toddler following you around the house screaming, “HOLD YOU!! HOLD YOU!!!” all the livelong day?

It’s enough to make you pack a bag and run away, is what. But then you get arrested for leaving your toddler home alone, which honestly…there should just be a better way of solving this issue, if you ask me.

So — the cookies. Make them!! And a huge HUGE congratulations to the creator of this recipe, Kara Canary — I hope you have so much fun with your new Kitchen Aid Mixer and iPad Mini!!

Enjoy!

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Butterbeer Cookes

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• Cookies:
• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon butter extract
• Ganache:
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 5.5 ounces butterscotch chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine together the flour and salt and set aside. In your electric mixer bowl or bowl with hand mixer, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, butter extract and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for about a minute. Wipe down the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium, and mix for another minute until a dough forms.
3. Use a tablespoon as your size estimate. Scoop a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball and place on your baking sheet. You can use your thumb or the back of a teaspoon to make an indention in the cookie. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the cookies from the oven, and use your teaspoon to push down again on your cookie. You will want to be careful, because if you push too hard on the cookie it will crack, but we want to make sure we have a place to put the ganache. Return the cookies to the oven and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. They are very light in color. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before you transfer them to cooling racks. Allow them to cool completely.
5. While the cookies are cooling,make the Butterbeer ganache: In a bowl, place your butterscotch chips. In a small saucepan on medium heat, bring the heavy cream up to just before boiling. Remove from heat and pour over the butterscotch chips. Allow to sit for a minute or so and whisk until smooth. You need to allow the ganache to cool to room temperature before using.
6. Once the cookies have cooled, assemble the Butterbeer cookies. You can transfer ganache to a plastic squeeze bottle or zip top bag to create a piping bag. Pipe the ganache into the center of each cookie. You can drizzle the top with additional ganache if you want. Allow the cookies to set up before stacking them for storage. I used my freezer to get them to set up quicker!

Notes

***I added a couple of teaspoons water to my dough because it was dry -- it's possible that I scooped out a bit too much flour (or it was packed in the measuring cup too tight), but keep that in mind. If your dough is crumbly, just add a teaspoon or two of water and mix until soft dough forms.

***The ganache was a bit thinner than I'd have liked, but again -- it's possible I let it get too hot. I recommend trying it with 1/3 cup cream.

2.6

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