These cakelike ackee cookies sandwich fluffy white chocolate ackee ganache for a double shot of ackee in one sweet treat.
Types of cookies
Cookie lovers tend to fall into different camps with some preferring crisp, others soft and chewy and others still a more cake like cookie. I don’t really have a favorite and what I’m in the mood for will usually depend on the day 😆. If you strictly like crisp cookies or soft and chewy cookies, look away!
These cake like cookies are nearing whoopie pie territory but I don’t think they’re quite “there”. Regardless of what they’re called or how they’re classified, it will satisfy your sweet tooth.
My inspiration for this came from a cookie I had at Crave a few years ago when I lived in Alberta, Canada. They had a soft and chewy texture, rich molasses flavour with a good balance of spice and sandwiched an almost too sweet but just perfect American-style buttercream 😋.
Ackee Bulla?
A fews tests and tweaks till I was satisfied with this one, then it hit me and I said: wait! A bulla dis! (this is bulla) 😂But with whipped white chocolate ackee ganache? This is some bougie bulla!
For those unfamiliar, bullas are a traditional Jamaican baked treat, enjoyed by themselves or with pear (avocado) or cheese. They are small dense cakes usually made with molasses and flavored with ginger or my favorite banana. (Specifically the ones from Holey Bulla in Port Antonio, cause they’re small and have a hole in them. They call them holey but they’re heavenly delicious, one might even say holy, see what they did there? 😆).
Something about the combination of the ginger in the chai spice mix and the brown sugar along with the ackee was reminiscent of that flavour and I’m not mad about it.
You’ll have to make the ganache a day ahead of when you plan to do the cookies so it can set up in time. Aside from that it’s pretty smooth sailing as they are quick and easy to make. You could even forgo the filling and have them as they are. Or!!!! Hello! Ice cream sandwiches (insert happy dance) they’d be a great base for that!
Make it Vegan!
Neither the cookies nor the filling are vegan. But you could use a vegan butter substitute or coconut oil in the cookies to make them so. For the filling you could use a vegan white chocolate and coconut cream combo to make the ganache filling. Or simply use your favorite plant-based frosting/filling.
What do you think? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and if you make this or any of the recipes from this site be sure to #amazingackee and @amazingackee so I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊
Chai-Spiced Ackee Cookies
Ingredients
Dry mix:
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Chai spice mix I make my own homemade blend, you can use your own blend or store bought
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Wet mix:
- 3/4 cup Parboiled/canned ackee packed into the cup when measuring
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter* melted
- 1/2 cup Granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar packed
To finish:
- Raw/Demerara sugar to finish
Instructions
- Whisk together the dry ingredients to combine in a bowl to combine
- Combine wet ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend till smooth.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients then pour in the wet, mix till well combined but don’t overmix.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a shallow bowl, pour a layer of raw/demerara sugar.
- Using a cookie scoop (I used the black handled OXO one which I believe dishes 2 tbsps at a time), scoop balls of the cookie dough and drop onto the sugar to coat the base.
- Place them sugared side up on the cookie sheet then press down (these will not spread a lot so it’s important to press them down evenly).
- Repeat till you have used all the cookie dough. It may be necessary to do this in batches depending on how many cookie sheets you have as you don't want to crowd the trays
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes till the edges have browned.
- Let cool for a couple minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
- Let cool completely before filling (I used a piping bag to pipe the ganache into the cookies but you could scoop it or smear it with a spatula if you like)
- Enjoy!
Notes
White Chocolate Ackee Ganache
Ingredients
- 200 g White Chocolate
- 25 g Unsalted Butter cut into smaller pieces
- 75 g Heavy cream
- 150 g Parboiled/canned ackee
Instructions
- Place white chocolate and butter in a bowl (a metal bowl is best).
- Heat heavy cream just to a boil (I heated mine in the microwave for about a minute
- Pour heavy cream over white chocolate and butter in bowl and let side for a few minutes.
- In the meantime, pass the ackee through a fine sieve (if your blender is small enough you may be able to puree it that way but for me I found the sieve to be easier for the amount)
- Whisk the white chocolate mixture till smooth then whisk in the pureed ackee till well combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic and chill overnight or till firm.
- Once firm and you’re ready to use the ganache; using either a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the ganache for a couple minutes till fluffy.
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