White Chocolate Malted Shortbread Cookies filled with Halva Buttercream.
Tender little shortbread cookies flavored with white chocolate and malted milk powder are filled with a rich 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.
A word about 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
Malted White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Halva Buttercream
- Yield: About 30 sandwich cookies 1x
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Pin RecipeIngredients
FOR THE COOKIES:
- 1⅔ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup malted milk powder
- ⅓ cup Ghirardelli Ground White Chocolate Powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ sticks (3/4 cup) butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
FOR THE FILLING:
- 4 oz plain or vanilla halva, cut into small cubes
- 1 1/2 oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces (about 1/4 cup), melted and cooled to room temperature (Melt in microwave in 30 second intervals at half power.)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
FOR DECORATION:
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
MAKE THE 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 FILLING:
- 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.
STORING THE COOKIES: Keep the cookies in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
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