Mary's Butterballs

I knew as soon as I bought this book Chocolate & Vanilla by Gale Gand, that I wanted to make these cookies. You have a butter cookie sandwiched with chocolate ganache, or raspberry jam, and then rolled in vanilla sugar. They are simple to make, with only 3 ingredients for the cookie, and I will definitely make again. These may even go into goodie baskets for Christmas this year. Maybe next time, I will vary the filling, may strawberry and chocolate, or raspberry and white chocolate...

Mary's Butterballs:

1 Cup (2 sticks)unsalted butter, softened
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup chocolate ganache or raspberry jam
vanilla sugar, for rolling



*To make vanilla sugar, put a vanilla bean in a cup of sugar and let sit for at least 12 hours.


*Chocolate ganache recipe is here.

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until it's light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Mix in the granulated sugar and when the mixture is well blended add the flour and mix until it forms a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for rat least 3 hours to make is easier to handle. This also helps prevent the balls from flattening out too much when they're baked.



Preheat oven to 375 degrees.



Taking off pieces of dough with your hands, roll small (3/4 inch) balls of dough. Chill them for 30 minutes in the freezer, then place them 2 inches apart on cookie sheets to allow for some spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until the cookies are firm but not browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans.



Spread the flat face of half of the cooled cookies with the jam or ganache and top with a second cookie to form a little sandwiched ball. The filling will not show very much. Once you've sandwiched them all together, bury them in vanilla sugar to coat the entire outside.