When summer temperatures rise in the Southwest, these chilled cookies with fresh buttery green chile filling are the perfect treat. Plus they’re topped with a blizzard of confectioners sugar so you can let it snow!
The dough is a soft texture so it pipes easily onto parchment paper. Isn’t a swirled cookie with a star top so much more pretty and fun than a flat sandwich cookie? It’s called spritz dough because it ‘spritzes’ through your piping tip.
I recommend using a 1/2-inch star tip.
I’ve tried using a 1/4-inch one and even though the dough is smooth and creamier, the small tip didn’t push the dough through well and things started to squeeze up and out of the top of the bag.
When filling the bag it’s easier to stand it upright in a glass and then spoon in the dough.
You’ll notice that there’s no coupler holding the tip. That’s because I misplaced mine, so I cut the end of the bag very carefully, placed the tip inside and the weight of the dough held it in place. A good thing to know in a pinch.
Piped into 1 1/2 inch round rosettes.
They’re done when the bottoms are just golden brown. The tops will remain light and the texture will be slightly dry but not crumbly. Flavored with just enough lime zest and lemon juice for a fresh crisp flavor without overpowering the green chile filling … they’re buttery rich and light as a feather.
Two fresh minced poblano chiles blended into the filling add that unmistakeable herby taste. Even mild poblanos have a little heat, and I always taste test mine before adding to the mix. I’ve also used mild Hatch green chiles that generally have lower heat levels than poblanos … but when it comes to chiles, one can vary from the other even if from the very same plant. Taste and test to your liking is best.
Here is a link to roasting and prepping chiles.
I wouldn’t recommend using canned chiles because they contain so much moisture they soak up all of your confectioners sugar and create more of a soupy than creamy consistency. Thawing from my freezer chile stash also produced too much water, even when squeezed and drained through cheesecloth.
This creamy blend of fresh minced chiles, unsalted butter, a little cream cheese, lime zest and lemon juice, vanilla and sugar is simply delicious. You and anyone who smells the sweet buttery herbaceousness wafting around your kitchen will want to devour it with a spoon right then and there.
Once assembled and sandwiched together, let them chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (covered with plastic wrap so as not to absorb any other aromas in the fridge.) This allows the chiles to infuse the filling and moisten the cookie a bit. Preparing them a day in advance and keeping in the fridge gives them even more time to infuse.
The final touch … sift confectioners sugar over the tops. I may have gotten a little carried away with the powdering here but I absolutely love a snowy cookie in the summer.
xoAmy
Note: They tend to wilt and melt when set out on a picnic table in direct sun. Chilled is stellar.
I’d Order that ….
Chilled Green Chile Sandwich Cookies:
