Gingerbread filled with white chocolate and goat cheese

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White chocolate and goat cheese filling is a quick and easy way to pimp the gingrebread. And they make nice foodie gifts, too!

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Sure, making your own gingerbread dough from the scratch does make the best dough... but at least chez moi I've discovered it tends to magically disappear from the fridge as it's supposedly resting overnight and by the time the oven is hot there's hardly any left. Instead there is a cook with a seriously sore tummy... 

I blame them elves - around Christmas time they are the reason behind all the funny business, right?

But hey - sticking with this year's theme of stress-free Christmas, let's not stress. Take a deep breath and tell yourself it is perfectly ok to use  store-bought dough, too. It is. 

I even remember finding some in the corner shop around July once. Strangely enough my stomach was equally upset after wolfing down half a kilo package of that. Go figure - I could swear there were no elves anywhere.

For this purpose you should bake thicker and softer gingerbread (which to me is the only way to go anyway). If you want something even more decadent, you could add a jam layer too. Pear or blueberry for instance would work well. 

I was supposed to add a cranberry jelly, but after I got home, I realized I'd left the jar in the shop. But hey - let's not stress about that either!

White chocolate gives the filling sweetness and structure and goat cheese lends it lovely tartness and spreadability. If you're not a fan of it though you could just use regular cream cheese. 

You could also add some pureed berries to the filling. Or crushed hard, salty liquorice candy. Or substitute it with chocolate ganache. Entirely up to you so go on, go crazy!

Depending on the size of your gingerbread the filling is enough for 10-15 cookies

White chocolate and goat cheese filled gingerbread:

500 g gingerbread dough 

Roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness. Using a circular cookie cutter (or a glass), cut it into discs. Using a tiny cookie cutter (or a sharp knife) cut a desired shape into half of them. 

Bake at 200° for 5-7 minutes until the edges start getting a little colour. Let cool, fill and assemble the cookies.

White chocolate and goat cheese filling:

1 (145 g) White chocolate bar

1 tsp vanilla essence

the finely grated zest of a lime 

the juice from 1/2 lime

1 box (140 g) spreadable goat cheese

Melt the chocolate in Bain Marie ( metal bowl placed over pot of simmering water). Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. Chill until ready to use. 

Turn the gingerbread cookies the lower side up. Spread the filling (easiest way is to use piping bag and a small round nozzle) onto one half and then press the top half (the one with the shae cut into it) on top of it. 

Serve! And be merry!

PS. In case youdo have the time (and self-restraint...) here you'll find my recipe for made-from-scratch-gingerbread dough.

PPS. And in case you're looking for a gluten-free recipe, check out Veera's version at  Queen of Delicious! 

So, have you already started your gingerbread season? How do you  pimp yours?

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SHARING IS CARING!