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A few years ago, Valrhona introduced a revolutionary new line of Inspiration couvertures. The first product of its kind, this range features fruit and nut couvertures made with freeze-dried fruits, sugar, and cocoa butter, and without dairy, artificial flavoring, coloring, or preservatives. Offerings in the Inspiration lineup include strawberry, almond, passionfruit, raspberry, and yuzu.
I first sampled a few of these Inspiration couvertures during a chocolate tasting lecture at Le Cordon Bleu London. However, I hadn’t baked with them until recently, when I finally decided to purchase a few small bags, starting with Passionfruit and Strawberry, to do some experimenting and see what kinds of fun recipes I might be able to cook up.
As it turns out, these covertures make lovely ganaches. They work especially nicely for filling chocolate bon bons and macarons, like the swirled passionfruit macarons pictured here. However, I think these chocolate passionfruit cookies might be my best Valrhona Inspiration-inspired creation so far.
These decadent, bakery-style passionfruit and dark chocolate cookies feature a chocolate cookie base with chunks of dark chocolate and Valrhona Passionfruit Inspiration, plus a dark chocolate and passionfruit ganache surprise in the middle.
They’re rich, soft, gooey, and chocolately, with just a hint of tanginess from the passionfruit. Basically, everything a cookie should be!
Passionfruit Cookie Tips and Tricks
Do not rush the process of shaping and filling your cookie dough balls. If there are any gaps in your dough once you’ve shaped it around the frozen ganache, the ganache will leak in the oven and you’ll end up with a messy tray of melted chocolate rather than cookies with gooey centers. It’s worth taking the extra time to make sure the ganache ball is completely covered and that there are no breaks in your cookie dough.
A melon baller and a cookie scoop will come in handy for this recipe. However, you can just as easily use a teaspoon and your hands to shape the ganache and dough balls if necessary.
Picking a Purée
You can purchase a high-quality passionfruit purée from a restaurant supplier. However, professional purées generally come in a much larger quantity than you’ll need for this recipe. I like to freeze my leftover fruit purées in ice cube trays. Each cube contains about 1 tablespoon of purée, so it’s easy to thaw and use as needed for future recipes.
If you don’t want to buy a large quantity of purée, look for pulps sold for making cocktails and juices, or for adding to smoothies. These often come in small squeeze pouches and are much less expensive than baking purées. Keep in mind that cocktail purées often contain added sugar, so consider pairing it with a darker chocolate to compensate for the extra sweetness.
Pro tip:
Baby food is another good option when you need an inexpensive, small quantity of fruit purée for a recipe. It’s pure, organic, sold in small pouches, and readily available at the grocery store. It might not work for this particular recipe, but it’s a great hack when you need a puréed fruit like mango, banana, or strawberry.
Chocolate Choices
The Valrhona Inspiration lines are somewhat pricey. Thankfully there are many suppliers, such as Worldwide Chocolate, which repackage the big Valrhona bags into smaller, less expensive quantities. You can also buy their couvertures on Amazon.
If you aren’t able to purchase the passionfruit inspiration, you could try using a chopped passionfruit chocolate bar, such as this one, in the batter instead, although I have not personally tested this method.
More chocolate cookie recipes you might enjoy:
Buzzy Dark Chocolate and Espresso Bean Cookies
Lavender-Lemon Latte Cookies
Chocolate Caramel Cookies
And if you make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Print
Passionfruit and Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Total Time: About 2 hours (including chilling time)
- Yield: 15 3 in / 8 cm cookies 1x
Description
These decadent dark chocolate and passionfruit cookies feature a chocolate cookie base with chunks of dark chocolate and Valrhona Passionfruit Inspiration, plus a gooey dark chocolate and passionfruit ganache surprise in the middle!
Ingredients
Cookie Dough:
115 grams unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup / 1 stick)
105 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
105 grams dark brown sugar (1/2 cup)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon passionfruit purée
128 grams all purpose flour (1 cup)
50 grams unsweetened fcocoa powder (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
125 grams good-quality dark chocolate, chopped (3/4 cup)
125 grams Valrhona Passionfruit Inspiration, chopped (3/4 cup, or about 32 feves)
Chocolate and Passionfruit Ganache:
125 grams dark chocolate, chopped (3/4 cup)
70 grams passionfruit purée (5 tablespoons)
25 milliliters whipping cream (2 tablespoons)
Instructions
Cookie Dough:
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Whip in the egg, followed by the vanilla bean paste and the passionfruit purée.
In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry mixture to the butter bowl, and mix on low speed until well-combined.
Stir in the chopped dark chocolate and the Passionfruit Inspiration, reserving a few pieces of each to press into the tops of the cookies.
Cover dough with clingfilm/plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill, at least one hour. While dough is chilling, prepare the ganache.
Chocolate and Passionfruit Ganache:
Melt the dark chocolate over a bain marie or double boiler.
In a small saucepan, add the whipping cream and passionfruit purée and whisk gently to combine. Warm the mixture over low heat (do not boil).
Pour the warm cream mixture into the bowl of melted chocolate, and whisk until well-combined. Transfer bowl to the refrigerator and chill until the ganache is firm enough to scoop.
Line a plate or a small baking tray with parchment or wax paper. Remove ganache bowl from the refrigerator. Use a teaspoon or a small melon baller to scoop the ganache, then use your hands to roll each portion into a ball. You should have 15 balls total.
Place ganache balls on prepared plate and transfer to the freezer. Freeze until firm.
Assembly and Baking:
Preheat oven to 350° F / 175° C. Line two baking trays with silicone baking mats, and set aside until ready to use.
Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a cookie scoop to scoop chilled dough into fifteen portions, rolling each into a ball.
Using your thumb, create an indentation in the center of each ball of cookie dough. Place a frozen ball of ganache inside each indentation, and gently wrap the cookie dough, making sure to completely “seal” the ganache inside the cookie dough. The ganache should be completely covered.*
Place dough balls on prepared trays, allowing a good amount of space in between (these cookies will spread!) Use the palm of your hand to flatten each ball slightly, pressing a few additional chunks of chocolate into the tops for decoration.
Transfer trays to the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes.
Bake cookies in preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes. Do not overbake.
Allow cookies to cool completely before removing from the tray.
Store chocolate passionfruit cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
Notes
*If there are any gaps in your dough, the ganache will leak in the oven and you’ll end up with a messy tray of melted chocolate rather than cookies with gooey centers, so do this carefully!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chilling Time: 1 hour (dough) + 10 minutes on tray
- Cook Time: 12-14 minutes
- Category: Biscuits and Cookies
- Method: Stovetop + Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
