Cookie #17 - Chocolate Ginger Black Sesame

What happened? I posted yesterday's cookies last night around 9:30pm EST. I looked at the blog and the cookies were posted, but when I looked this morning, it was gone. GONE. Not even saved as a draft! Poof! It disappeared somewhere in cyberspace never to be seen again.  Sigh. So, instead I bring you yesterday's cookie today and today's cookie will be posted later this evening.

For this cookie, I used three forms of ginger: fresh, candied, and ground.  The spicy ginger flavor lends itself well to the cookie, but the overall result was just okay. I found the frosting to be too sweet to carry the root's strong flavor forcing me to overcompensate by adding MORE ginger.  The flavor was good, but like I said: very sweet and very gingery.
I garnished the cookies with some black sesame seeds. I initially thought they'd be insignificant and not add much, if any, flavor. I was wrong. Just that small amount of seeds on top added a toasty undertone that complemented the cookie's finish.

Chocolate Ginger Black Sesame Cookie

1 recipe for Chocolate Wafer Cookies

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 recipe for Vanilla Buttercream (or one can prepared white frosting)

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup candied ginger, diced
Black sesame seeds

Prepare the chocolate cookies as directed adding the ground ginger with the rest of the dry ingredients.  Slice about 1/4" and bake as directed. Allow to cool.

For frosting, prepare as directed whisking in the fresh ginger when you cream the butter and folding in the candied ginger at the end. 

Frost each cookie and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Cookie #16 - Chocolate Maple Bacon

My husband loves bacon.  When I brought up this cookie idea to him, he just about jumped out of his seat with excitement.  So, here we have Corey's cookie:  chocolate wafer with a cinnamon maple frosting and candied bacon topping.  The smokiness of bacon really blends well with the sweetness of the frosting and chocolate and the maple reminds me of Sunday breakfast.  My husband found the candied bacon to contribute too much sweetness to this cookie package.  The next time I make it (which will be soon if Corey gets his way), I'll probably try just crispy cooked bacon, rather than the brown sugar candied variety.  Here's what I did:

Chocolate Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Frosting and Candied Bacon

1 Recipe for Chocolate Wafer Cookies

1 recipe of Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (or a can of prepared white frosting)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (use the good stuff)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4-6 slices of bacon

1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar

Prepare the chocolate wafer cookies as directed, slicing about 1/4 " thick.  Bake as directed and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, prepare the toppings.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.  Lay bacon strips on in one layer.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the bacon until it is well coated.  Bake the bacon for about 20-25 minutes until the bacon is thoroughly cooked.  Remove immediately from the cookie sheet to a Silpat or piece of parchment to cool.  Once cool, cut bacon into small pieces (it'll be too sticky to crumble).

Prepare the frosting as directed (or put entire can of frosting in a bowl).  Whisk in cinnamon and maple syrup until well combined. 

Once the cookies have cooled, frost each cookie with the frosting and add about 5 or so bacon pieces to the top of each cookie.