Cookie filling

[Julie Jones]

Hi! I want to make some cookies for some special people, and I’m sure they would like some different from my standard favorites. I would like to bake some dark chocolate cookies (found a recipe that I like for those) with a Bailey’s Irish Cream filling with no added chocolate-and that I can’t find. I can’t find advice about how to make cookie fillings that won’t ooze out while baking. I’ve done caramel and Nutella with success, but I’m too novice to know what I can mix with Bailey’s to make it work. Any advice?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi! I want to make some cookies for some special people, and I’m sure they would like some different from my standard favorites. I would like to bake some dark chocolate cookies (found a recipe that I like for those) with a Bailey’s Irish Cream filling with no added chocolate-and that I can’t find. I can’t find advice about how to make cookie fillings that won’t ooze out while baking. I’ve done caramel and Nutella with success, but I’m too novice to know what I can mix with Bailey’s to make it work. Any advice?

Welcome to the forum Julie

Adding liquor to fillings is pretty simple. You can infuse a standard powdered sugar cookie filling recipe with about 2 tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish cream. If after mixing, it is too thin to your liking simply, stir in a teaspoon of powdered sugar at a time to create the consistency you want.


Since cookie filling is not cooked, the alcohol is not burned off. So you need to consider this before serving it to children.


I prefer ganache fillings. You don’t have to use dark or milk chocolate for cannot. You could mix the Bailey’s into a white chocolate ganache. Simply add the Bailey’s to the cream. Depending on how long you heat the cream the alcohol may or may not burn off. As a general rule when i use liquor or coffee in a desert I do not serve it to children.


Personally I think ganache is a better choice for adult cookies as powdered sugar icing‘s are extremely sweet. With the exemption of Oreos, most adults don’t care for the overwhelming sweetness of powdered sugar icings. While white chocolate ganache is sweeter than dark chocolate, if a good quality white chocolate is used it will create a flavor profile more suited to adults.

 

[Julie Jones]

Welcome to the forum Julie

Adding liquor to fillings is pretty simple. You can infuse a standard powdered sugar cookie filling recipe with about 2 tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish cream. If after mixing, it is too thin to your liking simply, stir in a teaspoon of powdered sugar at a time to create the consistency you want.


Since cookie filling is not cooked, the alcohol is not burned off. So you need to consider this before serving it to children.


I prefer ganache fillings. You don’t have to use dark or milk chocolate for cannot. You could mix the Bailey’s into a white chocolate ganache. Simply add the Bailey’s to the cream. Depending on how long you heat the cream the alcohol may or may not burn off. As a general rule when i use liquor or coffee in a desert I do not serve it to children.


Personally I think ganache is a better choice for adult cookies as powdered sugar icing‘s are extremely sweet. With the exemption of Oreos, most adults don’t care for the overwhelming sweetness of powdered sugar icings. While white chocolate ganache is sweeter than dark chocolate, if a good quality white chocolate is used it will create a flavor profile more suited to adults.

 

[Julie Jones]

Thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated. I will try the white chocolate ganache, it seems like the best option. Wow, I love getting advice!

 

[Julie Jones]

I forgot to ask-when adding Bailey’s to the cream, do you substitute Bailey’s for an equal amount of cream, or do you mean adding it in addition to the amount of cream that would normally be used?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I forgot to ask-when adding Bailey’s to the cream, do you substitute Bailey’s for an equal amount of cream, or do you mean adding it in addition to the amount of cream that would normally be used?

For a filling ganache use equal parts chocolate and cream (1:1 ratio) by weight. To maintain that specific viscosity when using a liquor to flavor, subtract the amount of heavy cream and replace with the liquor.

But even if you used a 1:1 ratio of chocolate to cream, then added a 1 - 2 tablespoons of liquor, it won’t render it runny. Going beyond 2 tablespoons will begin to create a viscosity similar to a cake frosting. Softer, but not runny.

To make ganache soft enough for spreading/piping like a cake frosting use 1:2 ratio chocolate to cream.

For a thick ganache for use as a truffle then 2:1 ratio chocolate to cream.

 

[Becky]

Cookies filled with Baileys sound like a lovely idea! I bet they'll be delicious. Keep us posted with how it goes

 

[Julie Jones]

I will! May I ask one more question? I’ve been reading that ganache doesn’t keep well at room temperature. How long can they stay safe? Or do I need to keep them refrigerated? I don’t have many people eating them, so I’m worried I might poison someone if they don’t get eaten quickly. Thank you all for the help and kind words!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I will! May I ask one more question? I’ve been reading that ganache doesn’t keep well at room temperature. How long can they stay safe? Or do I need to keep them refrigerated? I don’t have many people eating them, so I’m worried I might poison someone if they don’t get eaten quickly. Thank you all for the help and kind words!

I cannot tell you specifically how to handle food, I can only provide you with the industry information so that you can use your best judgment.


Understanding basic food safety will help you decide how to handle your cookies.


This applies to all food:


Food spoilage comes down to Water Activity (Aw).


Aw is the measure of available water in a food product. Available water and actual water content are not the same.


Water molecules bond with other molecules. Food becomes contaminated with microbes when they bond with the available water molecules in food.


However water molecules in food will also bond with other molecules, not just microbes. Therefore, not all the water in your food is available to microbes.


So it is the available water that is of concern in food safety.


So Aw refers to the available water that will actively bond with microbes and not the total water in a food.


Aw is measured from 0 to 1.0.

0 = no water activity.

1.0= maximum water activity

Ph level is important. But that’s a whole post in of itself. For this discussion Aw in general is enough.

The only way to know specifically the Aw of food product is to have it analyzed in a lab, or purchase a very expensive meter.


But there’s some general knowledge of Aw in foods commonly produced in the baking industry.


=========


The following applies to ganache


Dark chocolate ganache has a Aw of about 0.86. That’s an average. The actual level will depend on a number of factors.


White chocolate ganache has a slightly lower Aw.


The federal government standards for the cottage food industry is pH ( ≤4.6), water activity (≤0.85).


So an Aw of 0.85 or below is required for an individual to produce food at home and sell it to the general public. Not that you’re producing for sale; I just put that standard out there to give you a point of reference.


The federal standard means foods with a water activity of 0.85 or less will develop bacteria much more slowly than foods with an Aw above 0.85. So the government feels it safe For a home based business to produce such foods and sell them to the general public.


Now back to ganache. As I mentioned, dark chocolate ganache is around 0.86, slightly above the 0.85 threshold set by the government.


So refrigeration for extended storage is necessary. But the ganache can be safely left out at room temperature for a couple of hours.


There are also things you can do to lower the Aw in ganache and increase shelflife.

• boil cream: boiling kills bacteria and it evaporates some of the water in the cream. just let it cool some before pouring over chocolate.

• use an invert sugar*: invert sugar molecules will bind with available water molecules, making less water available to bacteria. Invert sugar will not alter the flavor of the chocolate ganache and give it a nice mouthfeel. use 2% - 3% invert sugar to the total weight of your recipe. example, if total weight of chocolate and cream is 250 grams. 250 x .02 = 5. So use 5 grams. add it to the cream when heating.

• use an liquor with at least 40% alcohol. Alcohol inhibits bacteria growth. Mix the alcohol in last. It will look curdled, just mix the ganache well to emulsify.

• do not whip the ganache as whipping will aerate and expose the ganache to microbes i. the air.

• when stored in a bowl, place cling wrap directly on surface of ganache to prevent air exposure.

*invert sugar is a liquid sugar. Examples are cooked sugar syrup, corn syrup, glycerol and/or sorbitol. You can make it yourself.


how to make invert sugar

http://www.chefeddy.com/2009/11/invert-sugar/