Little Ghost Cookies

To make the ghost cookies, start with the shortcrust pastry. Put the softened but still plastic butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar 1, a pinch of salt 2 and the cinnamon 3.

Work with the paddle just long enough to combine the ingredients, without whipping them. Then add the egg yolks 4 and continue mixing until they are fully incorporated. Add the flour 5, then turn the mixer on again at low speed until the flour is absorbed 6.

Transfer the dough to the work surface and briefly work it with your hands 7, just long enough to form a homogeneous disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap 8 and let it rest in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. In the meantime, prepare the ganache. Finely chop the dark chocolate 9 and place it in a bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan 10, without boiling it, then pour it over the chopped chocolate 11 and stir with a spatula 12.

When the chocolate has melted, add the condensed milk 13 and whisk thoroughly until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous cream 14. Put the ganache into a piping bag and transfer it to the refrigerator until needed. After the resting time, take the shortcrust pastry back out and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin until you reach an even thickness of about 3–4 mm (about 1/8–5/32 in) 15.

With a knife, cut out isosceles triangles with the two equal sides about 7 cm long and a base of 4 cm 16 17. In other words, roughly 7 cm (about 2 3/4 in) for the equal sides and 4 cm (about 1 9/16 in) for the base. As you cut them, transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper 18, spacing them slightly; you will get 90 pieces, which will then be paired two by two.

Divide the triangles into two groups: leave half whole, while on the other half create the ghosts' eyes 19 and mouth 20, using a small pastry tip to help. At this point 21 place the trays in the refrigerator for about 10–20 minutes to cool the dough again and help it keep its shape during baking. Then bake in a preheated conventional oven at 338°F for about 12–15 minutes, checking that the cookies are lightly golden.

Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack 22. When they are cold, spread the chocolate ganache over the whole triangles, keeping a little distance from the edges 23. Dust the cut-out cookies with powdered sugar instead 34.

Gently place them on top of the filled bases 25, applying light pressure so the two parts adhere 26. With these quantities you will obtain 45 filled cookies. Your little ghost cookies are ready to be served 27!