Halloween Recipe: Easy Black Cat Sandwich Cookies

Summary: I am a firm believer that all lives have at least nine cats, so of course my first make of the year is these delicious kitteh snacks! They are like a fancy, delicate Oreo cookie but much, much cuter. They are nice and easy to make, you just need a kitty cutter.

Ingredients

• 150g castor sugar
• 225g salted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• Black gel food colour, optional
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large free range egg
• 40g cocoa
• 270g plain flour

Filling

• 125g salted butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Beat together the sugar, butter, baking powder, vanilla, coffee, food colour and salt until fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
2. Beat in the egg. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl again.
3. Whisk together the cocoas and flour, then beat into the egg and butter mixture until well blended.
4. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 190C. Line baking trays with baking paper
6. Divide the dough in half. Sprinkle both sides of each piece with extra cocoa, to keep the dough from sticking.
7. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll 3mm or 1/8″ thick.
8. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets.
9. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until their edges are firm and you start to smell chocolate.
10. Remove them from the oven, and allow to cool completely before filling.
11. To make the buttercream filling: Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or with electric beaters) and beat until smooth.
12. Add the icing sugar & vanilla. Mix on low to incorporate and then beat on high for at least 5 mins. Buttercream should feel silky and should have increased slightly in volume.
13. Pipe or spread the filling on the back of a cookie & top with a second cookie. Repeat until all cookies are sandwiched.