Snack: Graham Cracker and Passion Fruit Whoopie Cookies

Recipe by Mindy Segal I love pairing graham and citrus together, and with its bright flavor, passion fruit acts a lot like citrus in flavor pairings. One day I put passion fruit in marshmallows for an off-the-cuff way to think about a whoopie pie filling

Ingredients

1 1/4 c. (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
14 graham crackers
3/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 c. cake flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sea salt flakes

Instructions

To make the shortbread: In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and cook until the milk solids have fallen to the bottom of the pot and turned golden brown and fragrant like toasted nuts, 10 minutes or longer, depending on how cold the butter is to start. Pour the butter into a heatproof bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until the butter is solid like shortening at room temperature, approximately 30 minutes.
In a food processor, grind the graham crackers into fine crumbs. Measure out 1 3/4 cups. You may have some left over.
Transfer the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the butter on medium speed for 10 to 15 seconds to break up any solidified pieces of brown butter. Add the sugar and mix on low speed to incorporate. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until aerated, approximately 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together.
Crack the eggs into a small cup or bowl and add the vanilla.
In a bowl, whisk together the flours, salts, and graham cracker crumbs.
On medium speed, add the eggs and vanilla, one egg at a time, mixing the first briefly before adding the second, until the batter resembles cottage cheese, approximately 5 seconds for each egg. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to bring the batter together. Mix on medium speed for 20 to 30 seconds to make nearly homogeneous.
Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together but still looks shaggy, approximately 1 minute. Do not over mix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. With a plastic bench scraper, bring the dough completely together by hand.
Stretch two sheets of plastic wrap on a work surface. Divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of the plastic wrap. Pat each half into a rectangle, wrap tightly, and refrigerate until chilled throughout, at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
Let the dough halves sit at room temperature until the dough has warmed up some but is still cool to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes.
Put a sheet of parchment paper the same dimensions as a half sheet (13- by 18-inch) pan on the work surface and dust lightly with flour. Put one dough half on top.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough half into a rectangle approximately 11- by 13- inches and 1/4 inch thick or slightly under. If the edges become uneven, push a bench scraper against the dough to straighten out the sides. To keep the dough from sticking to the parchment paper, dust the top with flour, cover with another piece of parchment paper, and, sandwiching the dough between both sheets of parch­ment paper, flip the dough and paper over. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and continue to roll.
Ease the dough and parchment paper onto a half sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough half and stack it on top. Cover with a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate the layers until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple of half sheet pans with parchment paper.
Let the dough sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes. Invert the dough onto a work surface and peel off the top sheet of parchment paper. Roll a dough docker over the dough or pierce it numerous times with a fork. Using a 2-inch round cutter, punch out the cookies. Reroll the dough trimmings, chill, and cut out more cookies.
Put the shortbread on the prepared sheet pans, evenly spacing up to 16 cookies per pan. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake until the cookies feel firm and hold their shape when touched, 2 to 4 minutes more. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet pans. Repeat with the remaining pan. Make pairs of similar-size cookies. Turn half of the cookies over.
To make the marshmallow filling: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg white on high speed until it becomes overwhipped and starts to turn grainy, 3 to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, fill a 2-cup liquid measuring cup with ice water and add the gelatin.
While still beating the egg white, fit a small pot with a candy thermometer. Add the sugar, corn syrup, passion fruit purée, and enough water to cover. Heat the pot over medium-high heat until the sugar syrup reaches 238 degrees F, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the amount of water added. When the sugar reaches 238 degrees F remove the pot from the heat. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin with your hands and stir the gelatin into the syrup.
With the mixer on medium speed, pour the syrup in an even stream into the egg white. Whip in the salt. Continue to whip until the egg white has cooled to warm but is still fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Fit a pastry bag with the Ateco tip #804 and fill with the marshmallow.
Holding the pastry bag at a 90-degree angle in the center of each overturned cookie, pipe a “bubble” of marshmallow, leaving a border on the sides. Top each filled cookie with a second cookie and press lightly to adhere.
Put the cookies on a parchment-lined sheet pan and refrigerate until the marshmallows have set, approximately 1 hour. The cookies can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To finish the cookies: Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Dip the top of each sandwich cookie into the Dulcey chocolate, shake off the excess, and place face up on the prepared pans. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm.
The cookies can be served right away or frozen and served within 1 week.

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