Mint Pastry Wafers

These pastry cookies are built on a three-ingredient dough of flour, butter, and whipping cream that bakes into something between a shortbread and a puff pastry. Flaky, rich, and shatteringly tender. A mini chocolate mint wafer gets sealed inside each pair, melting into a thin layer of minty chocolate as the pastry bakes around it.

The dough needs a solid 1 to 2 hours in the fridge before rolling. Warm dough sticks to everything and won’t hold its shape when cut. Once chilled, roll it to ¼ inch on a well-floured surface and cut with a 2-inch round cutter.

Dipping both sides of each round in granulated sugar before assembling does two things: it adds a sweet, sparkly crunch to the outside, and it keeps the layers from bonding too tightly so you get that satisfying flaky snap when you bite through.

Press the edges together firmly. The mint wafer needs to stay sealed inside or it melts out onto the pan.

Kitchen Tips

• Work quickly once the dough is out of the fridge. If it softens too much, pop it back in for 10 minutes.
• Roll half the dough at a time and keep the other half chilled. This prevents the second batch from becoming unworkable.
• Cool on the sheet for a full minute before transferring. These are fragile when hot.

Variations

• Use dark chocolate mint wafers instead of milk chocolate for a more intense filling.
• Dust finished cookies with powdered sugar instead of using granulated for a softer, snowier look.
• Add a few drops of peppermint extract to the dough for a stronger mint presence throughout.