I’m a sucker for a good sandwich cookie—because, really, it’s an excuse to have two cookies! Plus, there’s the tasty filling inside. These little lime cookies are a great combo: a tender, sandy sablé cookie paired with a light, creamy white chocolate–cream cheese filling. Normally sablé dough can be a little tricky to work with, but I’ve tweaked the recipe to make these more like easy icebox cookies. They’re great with any citrus zest, but lime is my favorite.
Makes 20 sandwich cookies
Difficulty: Easy
Make Ahead and Storage: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
1. Have at hand a piece of parchment paper roughly the size of a baking sheet and a bench knife (dough scraper) or offset spatula.
2. Make the sablés: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and lime zest on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing on medium speed until each one is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mix well. Scrape the bowl well. Add the flour and salt and mix just until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto the parchment and form it into a rough log along one long side of the paper (see sidebar). Use the paper and bench knife to help form the dough into a rounded log shape—about 1½ inches in diameter. Unwrap the log and see how it looks—repeat the process if needed. Transfer the dough to the freezer and freeze for 20 to 30 minutes, until nicely chilled.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the cookie dough into ¼-inch / 6-mm-thick slices (see Pro Tip). Transfer the slices to the prepared baking sheets—stagger them, leaving ½ inch between them (they won’t spread much).
7. Bake the cookies, rotating the sheets from front to back and top to bottom at the halfway mark, until the surface appears set and they are evenly golden brown on the bottom (they won’t color on top, so use a spatula to flip a cookie over and check), 13 to 15 minutes. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets.
8. Make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and lime zest on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.
9. On low speed, beat the cooled melted white chocolate into the cream cheese mixture until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag and cut a ¼-inch opening at the tip.
10. Turn half the sablés over. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling onto the center of each overturned cookie. Place the remaining cookies on top of the filled cookies to create sandwiches, pressing down gently to help the filling flood to the edges.
✻ Why It Works
Sablés get their sandy texture (sablé being the French word for “sand”) from a combination of properly creamed butter and sugar and egg yolks. Get it right, and they are tender and crumbly, but not so fragile that they fall apart.
★ Pro Tip
When it comes to sandwich cookies, it’s ideal for the cookies to be the same size and “match up.” The icebox cookie method ensures you’ll end up with uniform shapes, but it’s important to take care when cutting the cookies that they are the same thickness. I cut the first one carefully and place it on my cutting board to use as a visual guide. You can even hold it up against the log and make score marks where you want to cut. That takes care of the hard part—then all you have to do is slice!