Gooey Orange and Cardamom Chocolate-filled Cookies

I've been trying to think of a way to do chocolate and cardamom cookies, and I thought a good way to do it would be to make a ganache with cardamom in it, then wrap that in cookie dough. A quick google search shows this recipe, which proved that it was not an original idea, and that it would probably be successful.

These are marginally more complicated than chocolate chip cookies. First make some ganache (for such a fancy word, it isn't that complicated to make) and let it chill. Now make a complementary cookie dough. Scoop chunks of chilled ganache and roll them in to smallish balls. I know you want them to be enormous, but trust me, it works better this way. Wrap the ganache balls in cookie dough. Keep the ganache chilled, if it starts getting soft, take a break and put it in the freezer for a few minutes.

Now bake your cookies as usual, and try to share. On a thermodynamic note, try to let them cool a little before biting right into them, the cookie part might seem just the right temperature, but the gooey innards will be hotter, like molten lava, and they will burn your fingers and tongue and everything if you are not careful. Yes, I know from experience. When I made this amount of ganache, it lasted for 2 batches off cookie dough, which is how I know I prefer the orange version instead of plain, so you may want to double the batch of cookie dough, but it's hard to say because I was still working out how big the cookies could be and how much filling to put in them.

gooey chocolate filled cookies

Cardamom Chocolate Ganache
(these measurements are approximate because you may want to make it more or less sweet or cardamom-y)

1 cup whipping cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
12 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
2-3 Tbsp honey (I used orange blossom honey, but regular clover honey would be great)

Heat the cream and butter together in a saucepan until it just starts boiling. Add the cardamom, then pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely, then stir in the honey. Let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. Scoop out teaspoon (or slightly larger) sized balls, and store in the fridge until you are ready to form the cookies, or in the freezer if you don't anticipate using it right away. And don't let your lovemuffin eat them all before you have a chance to stuff it into cookies.

Orange Cookie Dough
(base on Original Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe on bag)

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
zest from 1 small orange (more or less to taste)
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, eggs and orange zest. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt, then mix well into wet ingredients. Cover and chill in refrigerator a few minutes, or longer until you are ready to form the cookies.

Now, take a ball of chocolate, scoop out some cookie dough, and wrap the cookie dough around the chocolate. there should be 1/2" or so surrounding the ganache. I'm sure there's a good way to figure out the exact correct proportion of cookie to ganach, but I did not do it this time. I just know that they can't be too big. Bake cookies at 350 for  9-11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middles are set. Let cool for a minute on pan, then scoop them onto a cooling rack.