If you don't make these over the holidays, I'll never speak to you again! Okay, so I don't mean that...I'm just trying to convey how delicious these cookies are. Light, crisp, beautiful, cannoli-like, with a gorgeous whipped filling. So easy---promise!
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- Yields:
- 16 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 10 mins
- Cook Time:
- 10 mins
- Total Time:
- 20 mins
Ingredients
For the Cookie:
- 1
stick butter
- 1/2 c.
molasses
- 1/4 c.
sugar
- 1/4 c.
brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp.
brandy
- 3/4 c.
flour
- 1/8 tsp.
salt
- 1/4 tsp.
ground ginger
For theFilling:
- 2 c.
heavy cream
- 1/3 c.
sugar
- 2 Tbsp.
brandy (more to taste)
Directions
- Step1Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.
- Step2To make the cookies/shells, melt butter in a skillet with molasses, sugar, and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Allow to bubble and cook for one minute, then turn off heat.
- Step3Dump in flour, ginger, and salt. Stir together quickly until just combined, then stir in brandy.
- Step4Use a tablespoon to spoon mixture onto cookie sheet; do only eight cookies per sheet, as they will spread out in the oven.
- Step5Bake for 10 minutes, or until bubbling in the oven. Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow to cool on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Lift up circles one at a time and drape them over a cannoli mold (or a large metal handle of a whisk or potato masher!) The cookies will naturally drape over the mold; help it along by pressing the seal.
- Step6Slide cookies off the mold and set them on a cool plate. Repeat with remaining cookies. Be prepared to slightly reshape cookies as they cool. Fill with cream filling when completely cool.
- Step7For filling, combine cream, sugar, and brandy (make sure cream is very cold.) Place into a cold mixing bowl (chill ahead of time) and mix on high until cream is very stiff. Place cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Carefully fill cooled brandy snaps. Serve within a couple of hours.
*Adapted from an old Helen Corbitt recipe
These are incredible, lovely, and wonderful.
And beautiful.
And crisp, and textural, and creamy and dreamy.
Convinced yet?
They’re Brandy Snaps, a light cannoli-like cylindrical cookie typically filled with anything from buttercream to brandy-spiked whipped cream. The cookies themselves contain brandy, too, and are so, so scrumptious—and you won’t believe how easy they are to make. The cookie batter is actually made in a skillet, which is a little unconventional. But then again, these cookies are a little unconventional.
Make them today, then make them again for your holiday party. They’ll knock your guests’ socks off…in a very good way.
Throw a stick of butter and some molasses into a skillet.
Add some white sugar…
And some brown sugar.
Stir it around over medium heat until the butter melts.
How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? I have a minute here. I just thought I’d ask.
Bring it to a gentle boil, allow it to cook for about a minute, then turn off the heat.
Measure flour, ground ginger, and salt…
And throw it into the pan.
Stir it around until combined, then add in some brandy and stir to combine.
Now, measure a tablespoon of the mixture at a time…
And spoon circles onto a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet.
Only put about eight circles on the pan at a time, as they’ll really spread out while baking.
Like this! Notice how it’s all bubbly on top? You definitely don’t want to remove them from the pan before then. You actually want them to be bubbly, and you want the bubbles to be freaking out and popping a bit. This’ll give the rolled cookies a nice holey/lacy texture.
Now, you need to wait until the cookies have cooled two or three minutes, or until you can lift up the edge of a cookie without it stretching. If you have a cannoli mold, great…but if not, do what I did and grab your potato masher (or whisk!) Then you just drape each cookie over the handle. It will naturally fall and mold itself around the cylinder.
Lightly press to seal it together…
Then slide the cookie right off the handle.
Repeat until they’re all done, and let them cool completely.
As they cool, use your fingers to slightly squeeze and adjust their shape so they remain nice and uniform and perfect, because if one of the brandy snaps were to cool out of shape, your life would surely spiral downward into a series of unfortunate events and before long you’ll totally forget what a cylinder’s even supposed to look like!
And who the heck needs that?
You can make up the cookies ahead of time. Just let them cool completely, then store them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container until you need them.
When you’re ready to fill ’em with gorgeous loveliness, measure some heavy cream…
Add some sugar…
And of course, plenty of brandy. Enough to taste it.
Life is all about tasting the brandy.
At least that’s what my minister tells me!
Pour it into the mixing bowl…
And whip the heck out of it until it’s nice and stiff.
Immediately spoon it into a pastry bag.
Fold down the corners of the bag and grasp it tightly…
Make sure the cream is about to come out of the tip…
Then gently insert the tip as far as it’ll go into the cookie. Squeeze lightly to force the cream to the other side, then slowly remove the bag, squeezing lightly to fill the tube.
Bada BOOM…
Bada bing…
Bang…
BOOM.
Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
And you won’t be able to help yourself either. These are to die for.
Note: Be sure to let these bake for the full ten minutes. If they don’t quite bake long enough, they tend to be just slightly on the chewy side when you really want them to be crisp. It might take a batch or two to get it right, but it really is a piece of cake.
