To Post or Not to Post?

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)

Perfection is an unrealistic goal, and yet so many blogs attempt to achieve just that. Guilty of that precise crime, it’s difficult to decide what should make the cut when it comes time to make the next post. Should an unreliable recipe go live, potentially frustrating curious readers? Never; that would be an unpardonable offense. But what about the blurry line separating good from great? Should a nice recipe be dumped just because it isn’t quite “perfect”?

Life is quite messy itself, so it only seems fitting to allow a few messier creations in as well. Take for example, cookies that baked up like a dream, with a fantastic chewy texture and sophisticated bitter cocoa flavor, sandwiched together with blueberry creme acting as the luminous violet glue. Summery yet not incapable of bridging the seasonal gap, crowd-pleasing, and an all around delight. The problem? They suffer a bit from ugly duckling syndrome.

You see, it’s mostly the filling that I take issue with. It looks grainy, even curdled in photos, despite tasting silky-smooth on the tongue. Should such a blemish be allowed to go live, presented as the desired outcome? Does one small imperfection ruin a whole recipe? At the end of the day, would you blog about it?

I think my response goes without saying.

Black and Blueberry Sandwich Cookies

Black Cocoa Cookies:

10 Tablespoons Non-Dairy Margarine
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Tablespoon Flax Seeds, Ground
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Black Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Plain Non-Dairy Milk
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Blueberry Creme Filling:

4 Ounces Vegan White Chocolate Chips
3/4 Cup Blueberries, Fresh or Frozen and Thawed
1/4 Cup Non-Dairy Margarine
1/2 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer or food processor, cream together the margarine and sugar thoroughly, until homogeneous and fluffy. Add the ground flax seeds, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix until mostly incorporated. The dough will be too dry to fully come together, so add in the “milk” and vanilla, and mix once more to combine and create a smooth, cohesive batter.

Scoop out 3 tablespoons or so of dough per cookie, and flatten them just slightly on the baking sheet. Be sure to space them 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart, because they really spread as they bake; arrange no more than 9 cookies per sheet.

Bake for 10 – 13 minutes, until the edges are set and the cookies look barely puffy in the middle. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheets for 10 more minutes before sliding the silpat or sheet of parchment onto a cooler surface. Allow them to fully cool before applying the filling.

To make the blueberry creme, first melt the while chocolate, either in a double boiler or in the microwave. If microwaving, heat at 30 second intervals, stirring well in between, to ensure that it doesn’t burn. White chocolate can be very temperamental, so keep a close eye on it.

Toss the berries into your blender or food processor, and completely puree. Strain the juice directly into the melted white chocolate and discard the pulp and seeds remaining. Stir thoroughly, reheating gently as necessary if the chocolate beings to solidify or seize. Once smooth, chill the mixture for at least an hour, until cold to the touch and thickened.

Beat the margarine and confectioner’s sugar together in your stand mixer before adding the chilled blueberry mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is getting incorporated, and whip on high speed for about 5 minutes, until there are no remaining chunks of margarine and the filling only appears to be vaguely grainy. Apply the filling to one cookie, and top it off with a second. Repeat with remaining cookies.

The sandwich cookies keep well at room temperature, covered in plastic wrap, for approximately four days, or in the fridge for seven to eight. Better yet, for this summer heat, stash them in the freezer for up to a month, and you can snack on them while they’re still a bit frosty!

Makes About 14 Large Cookies; 7 Large Sandwich Cookies

Printable Recipe

58 thoughts on “To Post or Not to Post?”

  1. Ugly ducklings, they certainly are not! I mean, purple is my most favourite colour, so I am biased, but, really, purple paired with black cookies looks dreamy. It might not have been easy to press “publish” for this recipe, but your readers will be grateful that you did. If I had white chocolate chips, I’d be making these for a potluck I’m having tonight. :)

  2. I agree with Kris on this one. The purple hue of the blueberry cream filling is gorgeous! The combination of blueberries and white chocolate sounds intriguing, too. If they taste as good as you say they do, they’re definitely worth sharing with the world.

  6. They are not ugly ducklings. I think the grainy look you are talking about comes from the tiny seeds in blueberries. And it adds texture. Who wants perfect? You want perfect fillings in your cookies, go buy that processed stuff full of chemicals and fats.

    I have this marked to make now.

  7. I am so glad you decided to blog this recipe, they do look delish to me and I can’t wait to try them. I have tasted to many beautiful plates that did not stand up to their looks.

  12. I think they are beautiful as they are and would gladly sample one! ;) I think we are always our own harshest critics. They really are gorgeous cookies. I love the color AND the texture. I was thinking the colors remind me of Halloween. :)

    1. They look amazing!
      I think Aimee B. is right. If you used pumpkin instead of blueberry for the filling they would be an excellent Halloween treat!

  15. Well, you must have worked your photography magic yet again, Hannah. I think they look beautiful! I’m glad you posted the recipe. I do not have the presentation skills you do so if I only posted perfection…well, I’d have to shut down my blog. :)

  20. MMMM…they look delish to me, I think it is an issue with the natural pectin that occurs in blueberries. I know I will be making this cookies & creme combo but being from Canada it will be with Saskattons :-)

  23. You what?! you think these are UGLY!?! I think this are beautiful! They have a dark delicious charm about them, and i cant wait to get the chance to sink my gnashers into them. Seriously they are gorgeous and look like they taste divvinnneee. Definitely wanting to give these a spin :)

  24. saw this on tastespotting and thought it looked so delicious i had to check it out…so, ugly-grainy?…no way… i think they look FAB ! i bet they are delicious

  25. you and us think a lot alike ;) we did a post about a recipe gone wrong – well mostly in the sense of the final look. we were disappointed how the whole thing came together at the end, though it tasted AMAZING the looks were not. But we wanted to share our not so pretty recipe idea so show others that making mistakes and that good food does not always have to be so pretty LOL so I think you posting this is great!! and the cookie sandwich still looks super yummy!! xoxo

  26. I love that you brought this up! I’m always leaving out recipes that don’t come out as expected. Your cookies look so good to me though. :)

  29. Of course, please post! I know that I, myself, never create anything that could be seen as perfect in its aesthetics, so to me taste is all that matters :)

  33. I find that weird separation thing happens sometimes when I mix fruits with anything butter-like. I think it’s the acid.

    either way, I think these look super delicious and I totally would not have even noticed that if you hadn’t pointed it out! Definitely posting-worthy.

  38. I think these truly look beautiful! Honestly, I struggle more with photography than recipes. I cringe when I just dont have post worthy photos. I also love to read about things that are works in progress. :)

    1. The key, I think, is to just start something. Don’t worry about having “perfect” posts every time; give it your best effort, and that intention will shine through. Besides, practice really does help, so if you struggle through the tough parts now, it will get better, bit by bit. :)

  40. Those are certainly not ugly. They are more beautiful than every processed food piece of garbage cookie you’ll find in the supermarket.

    Frankly, I might just make that blueberry filling to use as an icing or something. I don’t know — I’m just crazy like that.

  41. I think these cookies are lovely, Hannah! Actually the first thing I noticed about them was what I thought was a pretty speckled-like blueberry filling! I don’t know about you, but I tend to be much harder on myself than others are on me.

  43. I only noticed the “curdled” photo texture you mentioned after you said it, and I think it actually looks quite artistic, and pairs nicely this the crackly-ness of the cookies! That photo is a gorgeous creature, and I would have been proud to have it emerge from my camera. And the color of those cookies just cannot be beat!

  46. I know exactly what you mean. I end up posting good and great. THese look so good though. And talk about perfection, you pics etc are perfect.

  47. I think another commentator said it already but it bears repeating anything less than perfect in my house gets labelled rustic and slapped on a plate! LOL

  48. I always struggle with this issue with my posts. Frosting aside, which you can’t even notice, I think these cookies look scrumptious. The dark colors are so elegant and mysterious even. I love it. Absolutely love the shot you used too!

  49. I normally only post when something turns out great with one exception so far of this horrible s’mores brownie I attempted to make. I think it’s nice when bloggers post not so perfect things. After all, we are all only human and ‘no one is perfect’

    These look great, regardless of the way the frosting looks…
    (by the way, I wouldn’t have noticed!) At least they tasted fantastic!

  51. Those look perfect to me! I always post my flops, too, purely so that people don’t get disheartened when they have their own flops; we’re all human, and we all definitely have our own mistakes!

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