Cigares au Chocolat

I recently tried out a french recipe I found online. Making the conversions and figuring this out took a few tries, but I finally got it! These cookies are super yummy and once I had the right amounts and consistency figured out, they weren't too hard! I used a post on butterbaking.com to help me figure out my conversions (it was incredibly helpful!). Here's my Americanozed version of the original recipe.

Cookie Ingredients:

7 TBS of soft butter 

3/4 c + 1 TBS + 1/4 tsp powdered sugar (or a heaping 3/4 c.)

1/2 cup + 3 TBS + 1 1/2 tsp flour (or a scant 3/4 c.)

2-3 eggs worth of egg whites
Room temperature water

Chocolate or dark chocolate (I used 2 1/2 squares of almond bark, so maybe 3/4-1 c. chocolate chips worth)
Something to roll the cookies on (I used a pen).

Filling Ingredients:

1 oz cream cheese

2 TBS powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp cocoa powder*
2 large spoonfuls of melted chocolate*

2 TBS caramel syrup*

small amount of cocoa powder for dipping the end

*Choose whatever flavors you want for the filling. Raspberry would be yummy in this too!

Directions:

1. Mix together the butter and powdered sugar for 2 minutes. Mix in the flour, then add the egg whites one at a time. Mix until smooth. If your mixture looks like the picture below, it's too thick:
   
   Add water, 1 TBS at a time until the mixture is just thin enough to pour. Chill for at least 2 hours. 
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spray with Pam. Using a spoon, pour 2 1/2 to 3 inch circles of batter on the prepared parchment paper. Only pour 4 cookies at a time (more than that will not give you time to roll them before they have cooled and hardened). Bake for 5-6 minutes. The edges will be golden brown. 
3. Upon removing the cookies from the oven, immediately roll them around the pen (or whatever round object you're using) so there is a hollow in the center. Place them to the side to cool. If they try to unroll, place them with the "flap" on the bottom and brace them on either side (I put a cup on either side of the cookies that wanted to unroll, which was only a few of them really, you won't have to do this with all of them hopefully). Let the cool and set up. 
4. Mix the filling ingredients until smooth. Scoop into a plastic bag, cut the corner, and squeeze the filling into the cooled cookies.
5. Melt the chocolate according to package instructions. I added about 1-2 tsp of shortening to my melted chocolate to make it a little more smooth and thin. Place a small pile of cocoa powder to the side. Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate and gently tap off the excess chocolate. Dip the end in the cocoa to resemble ash. Place on a flat surface to cool (I let mine cool on the now cool pan/parchment paper). 

These were a gift for a friend who loves cigar boxes, so I found a fun cigar box at the local Antique Mall, cleaned it out, and used it at the gift box for the cookies. The cookies don't look exactly like cigars, and they don't look as good as the original cookies on the French site, but they tasted amazing and were a lot of fun to make!