Minty Chocolate Fudge Filled Cookies

I don't know if it was the thin mint girl scout cookies that I was hearing about so much lately, or I was just thinking something sweet with mint sounded good, but this weekend I decided to make chocolate mint cookies. 

At first I was thinking a simple mint shorbread would be nice, but then that evolved into chocolate mint sandwich cookies.  I was going to simply melt a bit of chocolate and sandwich them together, but it ended up being fudge instead, because something a little gooey to go with the crisp cookies sounded wonderful!  So I made my intense dark chocolate shortbread laced with a bit of mint, then made a scrumptious fudgy filling to sandwich them together. 

I decided to decorate them with little shamrocks since it is St. Patty's Day this week and I was feeling a little festive!  These are easy to make, and so delicious!  If you like the flavors in thin mint cookies you must try these! 

If you don't want to deal with the filling, the cookie is also delicious on its own sprinkled with a little sugar before baking, and if you don't want to deal with cutting them out, you can bake the shortbread in a tart pan with a removable bottom.  I made some this way, along with the filled ones.  Here is the recipe if you would like to try some!

Makes about 16

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.  In a large bowl, beat together butter, maple sugar, vanilla, 1 tsp mint extract, and fleur de sel until light and fluffy. Mix in dry ingredients until well combined, then between 2 sheets of parchment paper roll out to 1/4 inch thick.  Cover with some plastic wrap and chill until very cold, at least 30 minutes.  Use a small heart cookie cutter to cut out hearts, then sprinkle with pink sugar and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Remove from the freezer and bake for about 10-12 minutes until set and lightly brown. Cool on a wire rack.