Hot Cocoa Cookies

Last weekend a beautiful thing happened. Me + Sur la Table + a giftcard from last Christmas that I found deep in my wallet.  The result- my "happy place". 

So there I am, in the middle of that glorious store with money to spend, and I see it.  A tower full of cookie cutters- all shiny and new.  I couldn't look away.  Nor was I able to decide which ones to get.  I mean, there was everything from a T-rex to a baseball bat.  Point of the story- if there's a holiday or occasion, I now have a cookie cutter for it.

Included in this cookie cutter shopping spree were these little guys- I'm ashamed to admit that before I put that giftcard to good use, I didn't have a single tree or snowman cutter.  But now that they are in my possession, I had to put them to good use.  Enter hot cocoa cookies.

Marshmallow fluff stuffed between two chocolate sugar cookies.  Made undeniably better by the fact that they're adorable.  Even Sammy wanted in on the cookie action.  P.S. photographing cookies is a bit trickier when your boyfriend brings his dog over to your apartment....

Hot Cocoa Cookies

From Food Network Mag

What You'll Need:
2 1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
2 sticks (1 cup) Butter, room temp
3/4 cup Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 jar Marshmallow Fluff
Sprinkles, optional

What To Do:
1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Add in flour mixture slowly, in 2 increments, combining completely each time.  Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one half of the dough at a time, dust dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of wax or parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out shapes and transfer to baking sheets.  Gather scraps, reroll, chill until firm then cut out more cookies.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until slightly puffed and the edges are a little darker.  Cool on baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Allow to cool completely, then create sandwiches using marshmallow fluff. Dip edges in a bowl to sprinkles to cover, if desired.