Passionfruit Sandwich Cookies ~ #Creative Cookie Exchange

I finished eating my cookies before I finished drinking my milk, 

so clearly I need some more cookies.

The theme this month for the Creative Cookie Exchange is Stamped Cookies.  Although I have quite a few cookie cutters, I only have one cookie stamp.  Even if I had a lot of stamps this would still be my favorite as it was given to me by one of my daughters. I just love those unexpected gifts that clearly come from the heart.

Summer is just around the corner, or so they tell me.  Even here in Hawaii the temperatures have been lower than usual and I find myself pulling on a sweater in the mornings. Yeah I know, you don't want to hear that, but that is what happens when you live in a tropical climate and the temperature dips into the low 60's.

Summer always has me thinking of ice cream sandwiches, so this seemed like match made in heaven to stamp the cookies and fill them with passionfruit (aka lilikoi) sorbetto. I like this combination because the tartness of the fruit plays nicely with the sweetness of the cookies.

These cookies could not be easier to make.  They are based on Dorie Greenspan's Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie, and I added a little passionfruit puree for a little extra hit of flavor. Of course you could turn these cookies into any flavor you want - whether it is a change to the dough or filling them with a different flavor of sorbetto, or maybe a gelato, ice cream, or sherbet.

If you would like to know more about #CreativeCookieExchange and see what the other bakers made for the Stamped Cookies theme please scroll down below the recipe.

Passionfruit Sandwich Cookies
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

• 455g (16 oz) unsalted butter cut into chunks, at room temperature
• 265g (1⅓ cups) sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 545g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 30ml (2 tablespoons) passionfruit purée
• Passionfruit sorbetto

Preparation

1. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and blend in the egg whites, followed by the vanilla (it may look curdled, but it will smooth out with mixing and the addition of the flour).
3. Working on low speed, add the flour in 3 or 4 additions, beating only until it is almost incorporated each time before adding more; scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times as you work and then continue to mix until the flour has disappeared into the dough.
4. Divide the dough into quarters and shape each piece into a disk.
5. Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between pieces of parchment paper and roll it to a thickness of ¼ inch.
6. Slide the dough, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet — you can stack the slabs — and freeze for at least 1 hour, or refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
7. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 180℃ (350℉).
8. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
9. Working with one disk at a time, peel away the paper on both sides of the dough and return the dough to one piece of paper.
10. Use a 2-inch-diameter cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the lined baking sheets about 1½ inches apart.
11. Stamp the top of the cookie using a cookie stamp (or see some unique ideas here)
12. Gather the scraps together, then combine with scraps from the other pieces of dough, re-roll and chill before cutting and baking.
13. Bake the cookies for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheets front to back and top to bottom after 10 minutes, or until they are golden around the edges and on the bottom.
14. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.
15. Repeat with the remaining dough, using cool baking sheets.
16. Fill cookies with your favorite gelato or sorbetto - I used passionfruit (lilikoi) sorbetto - to form a sandwich.
17. Turn one cookie over and place one scoop of the sorbetto onto the bottom of the cookie.
18. Place another cookie (right-side-up) on top of the ice cream and squeeze them together a bit to push the ice cream to the edges. 
19. Eat immediately which I prefer, or wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag to eat later.

Anyone else have cookie stamps hanging out in their baking collection and looking for cookies to use them on?

You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

If you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made ~

• Copycat Oreo Chocolate Creme Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Stamped Sugar Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Passionfruit Sandwich Cookies from All That's Left Are The Crumbs