Swoon Pies

Every Tuesday night The Well band has practice, and one of the girls on ministry teams make a snack for them, and it was my turn today.  Having a hungry group of college guys who will eat anything is useful for when I want to try a new recipe but then don't want treats at the house to tempt me.  Tonight I made a recipe from the February issue of Southern Living, and they're called Swoon Pies.  I'll confess that I'm not the best at planning ahead when I cook.  A lot of times I'll try a recipe just because the picture looks good, which is dumb because it's all staged for magazines anyways.  Or I'll glance over the ingredients, and if they don't seem too bizarre I'll go for it, without reading the directions first.  This often results in me in the kitchen late at night saying, "What have I gotten myself into?"  This happened last night while making these.  They weren't necessarily hard to make, just very time consuming.  It was well worth it though, because they ended up looking great and were a huge hit with the band, and a few other people who managed to get a hold of one...

Swoon Pies

Ingredients

For cookies:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 8oz. container of sour cream
• Parchment paper

For marshmallow filling:

•  1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 cup marshmallow creme
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For chocolate topping:

• 1 12oz. package semisweet chocolate morsels
• 2 tsp. shortening
• Toppings: chopped nuts, chopped crystallized ginger, sea salt. * I just used sprinkles

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in graham cracker crumbs.
• Beat butter and next 2 ingredients at medium speed.  Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.
• Drop batter by rounded table-spoonfuls 2 inches apart onto parchment paper lined backing sheets.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until set and bottoms are golden brown.  Remove cookies to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

 For filling:

• Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add remaining ingredients, beating until well blended.

• After cookies have cooled, turn half of them over, bottom sides up.  Spread each with 1 heaping tablespoonful of marshmallow filling. Top with remaining cookies, bottom sides down and press gently to spread filling to edges.  Freeze on parchment paper-lined baking sheets for 30 minutes or until set.
• Pour water to depth of 1 inch in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer; place chocolate and shortening in a medium-size heatproof bowl over simmering water.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes or until melted.  Remove from heat, and let cool 10 minutes. *
• Meanwhile, remove cookies from freezer, and let stand 10 minutes.
• Dip half of each cookie sandwich into melted chocolate mixture.  Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with desired toppings, and freeze 10 minutes or until chocolate is set.
•  *  I did not use the double boiler method to melt my chocolate.  I just thoroughly coated the inside of a pot with cooking spray and melted the chocolate and shortening together on low heat.