Buttery shortbread cookies flavored with white chocolate and malted milk powder filled with delicious halva buttercream and drizzled with white and dark chocolate.

One of my favorite cookies in the world are these little Coffee & Cream Sandwich Cookies. The mocha shortbread cookies are great on their own, but the chocolate hazelnut frosting takes them completely over the top.
Loving that recipe as I do, I simply repurposed it to make these little white chocolate malted cookies with halva buttercream, swapping out the cocoa powder and espresso for white chocolate and malted milk powder, and hazelnut sour cream frosting for halva buttercream.
What's halva?
So glad you asked. If you already know the answer, you're probably already skipping down to the recipe because you just know these cookies are going to be delicious. If you've never had halva, you're in for a treat. Halva is a soft, crumbly, sweet candy made from sesame seeds. It originated in the Middle East and comes in all sorts of delicious flavors, primarily vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio.
What you really need to know is this: Halva is delicious. It can also be difficult to find. At least, it's difficult to find in Denver. No worries. Like most things these days, it's easy to order. I generally order it from Amazon, preferring this brand from Poland. It's also fairly simple to make - a quick google search will turn up several good recipes.
If you've never used White Chocolate Powder...
I've recently been sort of obsessed with using Ghirardelli White Chocolate Powder in baked goods. This is strange, because I don't even particularly care for white chocolate. But, this white chocolate powder brings a rich, complex vanilla flavor that is not overtly “white chocolate”. Most recently, I used it in this Black and White Chocolate Cake and the results were splendid.
Like Halva, Ghirardelli White Chocolate Powder can be difficult to find in local supermarkets, but is readily available online.
Used in this recipe:
- E. Wedel Halva Krolewska, Vanilla, 8.82 oz
- Ghirardelli White Chocolate Powder
- 2-inch round pastry cutter from this Double Sided Round Cutter Set
- Disposable Pastry Decorator Bags
- Decorator Star Tip
more christmas cookie recipes:
- Decorated Brown Butter Citrus Cookies with Chocolate Fondant
- Mini Ginger Snaps with Sorghum and Brown Sugar
- Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- Christmas Funfetti Cookies
- Marshmallow Brownie Crinkle Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Dark Chocolate Biscotti
- Spritz Wreath Cookies
- Peppermint Hot Fudge Thumbprint Cookies
- Cherry Almond Rugelach
- Chocolate Mint Brownies
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Malted White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Halva Buttercream
Buttery shortbread cookies flavored with white chocolate and malted milk powder filled with delicious halva buttercream and drizzled with white and dark chocolate.
Ingredients
For the shortbread cookies:
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup malted milk powder
- ⅓ cup Ghirardelli Ground White Chocolate Powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt (1 teaspoon kosher salt)
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the halva buttercream:
- plain or vanilla halva
- 1 ½ oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces (about ¼ cup), melted and cooled to room temperature (Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals at half power.)
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
To decorate with chocolate:
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the shortbread cookies:
- In a medium size bowl, whisk the flour, malted milk powder, white chocolate powder, and salt to combine.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing just long enough to combine.
- Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide in half. Working with one half at a time, place half the dough in-between two sheets of wax paper and cover the other half with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. Roll out each portion of dough between two sheets of wax paper until the dough is flattened into an ⅛ inch thick disc. Stack discs, with wax paper between them, on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator to a flat work surface. Cut out cookies using a biscuit cutter and lay each carefully onto the prepared baking sheet. They will not spread, so you can place them within a ½ inch of each other on the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies in the center of the oven for 7 minutes. Let cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet before removing cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough, scooping up scraps and re-rolling. If the dough gets too soft to work with, simply return it (covered) to the refrigerator for a few minutes to harden.
Make the halva buttercream:
- Blend the halva in a food processor for 1-2 minutes. Add white chocolate, and pulse to mix.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until very light and fluffy - about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the halva mixture, vanilla, and salt and beat on high for 1 minute longer.
- Refrigerate the frosting in an airtight container until firm enough to pipe. The frosting can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Fill and decorate the cookies:
- Fit a pastry bag with a star tip and fill with the halva frosting. Pipe filling on the flat side of one of the cookies and top with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Be generous with the amount of frosting. (You can also spread a thick layer of frosting with a small knife.)
- Place the cookies on a wire rack or a long sheet of parchment paper.
- Melt the white and dark chocolate chips by placing them in separate bowls and microwaving them in 30 second intervals at half power, stirring frequently.
- Add the chocolates to separate pastry bags and clip the tip of the bags to create a tiny hole from which to drizzle the chocolate. Drizzle the chocolates over the cookies in whatever decorative pattern you like.
Notes
STORING THE COOKIES: Keep the cookies in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
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Valerie says
Could these successfully be made as thumbprints instead of sandwiches?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Valerie! Hmmmm.... I'm not sure if these would work well as thumbprints. They do hold their shape well as cut-outs, so I would think they would also hold their shape well as thumbprint cookies. I've just never baked them that way, so can't say for sure. If you try it, don't fill their centers with the halva buttercream until after they've been baked and allowed to cool. If you try it, will you let me know how it goes?
Ellen Trovillion says
Hi Rebecca--I have a huge can of the Ghiradelli white chocolate powder and would like to use it in a cake/frosting. Do you have a recipe like that? I have looked online and come up empty. Most cakes call for melted white chocolate and I have no idea if or how much powder could be substituted. Any advice is appreciated.
Ellen (@tortamore)
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi there! So happy you asked! This Black and White Chocolate Marble Cake calls for a whole cup of Ghirardelli White Chocolate Powder and it's one of my favorites. I'd love to know what you think about it. 🙂