MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIE BONES

Mexican Wedding Cookie Bones image

Provided by Wanna Make This?

Categories dessert

Time 1h30m

Yield 12 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

Two 3.1-ounce discs Mexican chocolate, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ancho powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps:

For the Mexican hot chocolate ganache: Put the chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and ancho powder in a medium bowl. Add the heavy cream to a small saucepan and place over medium heat until it just starts to boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth and evenly combined. Refrigerate until cold.
Beat the ganache with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until thickened and lighter in color. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/4-inch round tip. Fill the prepared pastry with the whipped ganache. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Add the butter, vanilla and confectioners' sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour, pecans and salt and mix until the dough just comes together.
Take about a ping pong ball size piece of dough. Form it around a boba straw to make about a 4-inch-long tube (form it close to one end so that it is easier to remove from the straw later). Then, use your fingers to slightly scrunch the dough down on either end, rounding it and forming it into the shape of a dog bone. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Arrange the cookies (on the straws) on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies, rotating the pans halfway through, until they just begin to turn golden brown around the edges and are just set, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan a few minutes. Use a kitchen towel to hold the straws on one end and carefully push the cookies off the straws.
Place the tip of the pastry bag just inside the hole on one end of a cookie and pipe the ganache so that it fills it about halfway. Fill the rest of the cookie from the other side. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.