I am partial to all my cookies, I love all the ones I bake. Each flavor combination has been thought of with love and I do like to give each cookie, attention to detail. BUT this season, I HAVE TO say that this Chocolate Cookie Sandwich with Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow has to be my favorite cookie! This is my last cookie of 2024 as well.
The chocolate cookie itself is a sugar cookie, and is VERY GOOD. You could just bake those by itself and maybe forget about the fluff. But on the other hand I will tell you to go the EXTRA mile, make the fluff and sandwich the cookies with this fluff, cause it is THAT good.
What is this cookie? Do the flavors work together?
This cookie is a Chocolate Sugar cookie made with brown sugar and white sugar. The brown sugar provides the chewiness in the cookie. I use dutch processed cocoa powder, the one that you get from Ghirardelli. However I have used King Arthur Baking ones and Rodelle Vanilla ones too.
The difference between dutch processed cocoa is that the cacao beans have been treated with an alkaline to reduce the acidity of the cocoa. It also helps to provide the signature darker color. Normal cocoa powder can be slightly bitter.
The cookie gets a slight crunch because the dough is rolled in sugar before baking.
The strawberry-hibiscus flavor combination is one of my favorite combinations ever. I have a jam in that flavor in my cookbook – Mumbai Modern. I also have recipes on my blog with the Strawberry-Hibiscus combination.
- Strawberry Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
- Strawberry and Hibiscus Snickerdoodles
- Strawberry Hibiscus Cardamom Handpie
The soft, chewy fluff between the slightly crunchy and chewy chocolatey cookies is a killer combination, one that I am fond of. The freeze dried strawberry icing on the top of the cookie adds that bit of tang as well.
Overall I am in love with this flavor combination and one of my favorite cookies this season.
Ingredients of the Chocolate Sugar Cookie
The ingredients of the chocolate sugar cookie are:
- All purpose flour
- Unsweetened dutch cocoa powder: I talk about this in the previous paragraph
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter, at room temperature always
- Dark brown sugar, for that chewy cookie
- Granulated sugar for the crisp edges
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. I personally love using the vanilla bean paste
- A whole egg and egg yolk. Egg yolk helps to keep the cookie more chewy rather than dry.
Ingredients of the Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow
The ingredients of the strawberry-hibiscus marshmallow are:
- Hibiscus tea: You can use loose hibiscus or use a tea bag. I have both and tried with both variations
- Gelatin : I use the Knoxx gelatin powder
- Granulated sugar
- Light corn syrup: which helps to prevent crystallization during the boiling process of the sugar mixture
- Salt : to balance out the sweetness
- Strawberry extract and strawberry powder: Adds that strawberry flavor to the marshmallow
- Confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch are added if there is any additional marshmallow left so that it does not stick to each other.
Tips for a good marshmallow
I love Ruth Tam’s tips recipe for marshmallows. I have been making marshmallows for a long time, but somehow they turn out more sticky than usual.
- Tip#1 from her blog: Bloom the gelatin separately in a small bowl and not in the stand mixer ( which is what I have been doing before I read her tips).
- Tip#2 from her blog. Once you boil the sugar mixture to 250 degrees, which is an essential step for marshmallow making, cool down the liquid, so that when you add it to the gelatin mixture, it does not compromise the power of the gelatin. I cool it down to 220 and it works beautifully.
- You also need a candy thermometer for making marshmallows. Here is the one that I use – Thermoworks.
- Lastly, do not be afraid to make marshmallows. It is not as difficult as it may seem and once you make it one time, you will be addicted to make it often.
How to store the cookies?
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
Are these cookies shippable?
These cookies will remain intact and are shippable. Just make sure that they are sealed and packed tight so that they do not move around in the package, in transit.
Other recent cookie recipes from the blog
This is my last cookie of 2024. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the year. Be safe, be kind, and be positive for 2025.
XO
Amisha
Chocolate Cookie Sandwich with Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow
Chocolate Sugar Cookie:
- 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
- ¾ cup (76 grams) unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup/2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- ⅓ cup (66 grams) granulated sugar
Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow Fluff:
- ⅔ cup hibiscus tea, divided (I used a hibiscus tea bag steeped in 1 cup boiling water)
- 12 grams unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- ⅓ (100 grams) cup light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons strawberry extract
- 2 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Decoration:
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon freeze dried strawberry powder
- 2 teaspoons water
- Freeze dried strawberries
- Edible gold dust
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method:
Chocolate Sugar Cookie:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, add the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda, whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Start whisking on low, gradually increase the speed to high for upto 2 minutes, until the mixture looks fluffy.
- Using a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and bring the sugar mixture in the center. Add the vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry mixture in 2 batches, and mix until combined, on low speed.
- Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, scoop out the cookies onto a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll each cookie between the palm of your hands to a round shape, and roll it into a bowl filled with ⅓ cup of granulated sugar. Place about 6 to 8 onto a baking sheet.
- Bake in the lower middle rack of the oven for about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack.
- Repeat for the remaining cookies. Cool completely.
Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow Fluff:
- In a small bowl, combine ⅓ of the cool hibiscus tea with the gelatin and set it aside.
- In a medium saucepan, on medium-high heat, add the remaining hibiscus tea, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir with a rubber spatula until sugar dissolves. Boil the mixture for about 10 minutes or more, with the temperature on the candy thermometer registering as 250 degrees. Once it reaches that temperature, switch off the stove.
- Add the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment. Let the temperature come down to 220 degrees, roughly about 5 minutes. Keep measuring the temperature so that you do not miss the window of the right temperature.
- Add the hibiscus-gelatin mixture into the bowl, and start whisking slowly, gradually increasing to highest. At about the 4 minute mark, stop the mixer, and add the strawberry extract and strawberry powder.
- Mix for another 4 minutes, or until the marshmallow fluff holds stiff peaks. You can determine this by removing and inverting the whisk attachment. If there are stiff peaks your fluff is done. Total mixing is for about 8 minutes.
- Place a 16 inch piping bag fitted with a Wilton #805 tip, into a tall jar, opening up the bag. Using a plastic bench scraper, or rubber spatula will do, transfer the fluff into the bag. Seal it from the top and set it aside until ready to pipe the cookies.
Decoration:
- In a small bowl, combine the confectioner’s sugar, strawberry powder and warm water and mix until well combined. The consistency should be pipable, not thin and not too thick.
- Pour into a ziplock bag, seal the bag. Snip off the tip of the bag, about 1-2 mm. Pipe a zipzag pattern on half of the cookies. Crush freeze dried strawberries on each cookie, and a bit of edible gold dust for good measure.
- Invert the remaining half of the cookies (undecorated). Pipe a dollop of the strawberry-hibiscus marshmallow fluff directly onto the center (at a 90 degree angle), leaving a ½ to ¼ inch rim towards the end of the cookie circumference.
- Place a decorated cookie on top of the fluff and press gently in the center to adhere.
- Repeat for the remaining cookies. Set on the baking sheet for 2 hours.
- Store in an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
Note: If there is any fluff left, you can grease an 8×4 baking loaf pan, place a parchment paper in it, and add the remaining fluff into it. Spray cooking spray on the top, and seal with a plastic wrap. Set overnight. Next morning, dust half of the confectioner’s sugar, and corn starch onto a cutting board. Place the marshmallow onto the board. Dust the remaining on the top. Using a clean and sharp knife, cut the marshmallows into neat squares. Cover them with the sugar+corn starch mixture and store them into an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
Notes
Tips for a good marshmallow
I love Ruth Tam’s tips recipe for marshmallows. I have been making marshmallows for a long time, but somehow they turn out more sticky than usual.
- Tip#1 from her blog: Bloom the gelatin separately in a small bowl and not in the stand mixer ( which is what I have been doing before I read her tips).
- Tip#2 from her blog. Once you boil the sugar mixture to 250 degrees, which is an essential step for marshmallow making, cool down the liquid, so that when you add it to the gelatin mixture, it does not compromise the power of the gelatin. I cool it down to 220 and it works beautifully.
- You also need a candy thermometer for making marshmallows. Here is the one that I use – Thermoworks.
- Lastly, do not be afraid to make marshmallows. It is not as difficult as it may seem and once you make it one time, you will be addicted to make it often.
How to store the cookies?
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
Are these cookies shippable?
These cookies will remain intact and are shippable. Just make sure that they are sealed and packed tight so that they do not move around in the package, in transit
What should I do with leftover marshmallow fluff?
If there is any fluff left, you can grease an 8×4 baking loaf pan, place a parchment paper in it, and add the remaining fluff into it. Spray cooking spray on the top, and seal with a plastic wrap. Set overnight. Next morning, dust half of the confectioner’s sugar, and corn starch onto a cutting board. Place the marshmallow onto the board. Dust the remaining on the top. Using a clean and sharp knife, cut the marshmallows into neat squares. Cover them with the sugar+corn starch mixture and store them into an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
