Whether you have leftover candy or you're taking advantage of clearance candy after Valentine's Day, Easter or Halloween, you can create a whole new indulgence with Chef Penny's simple cookie sandwich recipe.
All of our best holidays are celebrated with abundance, and the candy focused ones are no exception. We can’t imagine that we’ll ever get tired of these indulgent treats, but soon, the idea of one more candy bar just is not as exciting as it once was. As with Thanksgiving, a little creativity applied to the leftovers can produce a brand-new treat better than the sum of its parts.
The possibilities for leftover candy are endless and so much fun. It can be baked into a brownie, turned into a trifle or layered into an ice cream parfait. As a chef, I want to step it up a bit and combine a little technique with treats that will please everyone’s inner child. Here's how you can, too.
I baked a batch of my favorite peanut butter cookies. While the cookies cooled, I made a swiss meringue buttercream. As it was coming together, I took about 3 cups of leftover chocolate-based candies and turned those into candy butter by using a food processor until I had a paste. Stir this into the buttercream, and you have candy butter buttercream.
Fit a pastry bag with any larger open tip and fill the bag with cream. Turn half of the cookies upside down and pipe the buttercream on each. Top each off with another cookie, and then dip the sides into additional chopped candy for these irresistible candy butter sandwich cookies.
Ingredients
Cookie Butter Buttercream
- 10 ounces egg whites
- 20 ounces white sugar
- 20 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ounce vanilla extract
- 3 cups leftover chocolate-based candy
Directions
- Place the egg whites (with no traces of fat or yolk) into a KitchenAid mixing bowl. Add the sugar and whisk this constantly over a double boiler until the sugar has dissolved and is too hot to touch. Place this on the KitchenAid mixer with the whisk attachment and whip until it's cool to the touch and has become thick and increased in volume.
- Once it's cooled completely, add the softened butter in chunks and continue beating until the butter has been fully incorporated. Add the vanilla.
- Meanwhile, place the candy into the bowl of a food processor. Blend until it becomes a paste. Depending on your machine, this will take 2-7 minutes.
- Add the candy butter to the buttercream and mix until fully combined.
Learn the fundamentals for developing your own dessert recipes one day in ICE's Pastry & Baking Arts program.
