Paradise Sandwich Cookies: Beautiful to See, Delicious to Eat!

Delicate in look and luxurious in taste, Paradise Cookies live up to their name with every bite. These sandwich cookies combine the bright zest of orange with the richness of mascarpone and cream creating a dessert that’s refreshingly light.

The dough is simple, just flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and citrus zest. Also, the texture is tender, the flavor is fresh, and the overall effect is refined enough for special occasions. Yet this dish is easy enough to make on a cozy afternoon.

What Are Paradise Cookies?

This style of filled cookie borrows its format from classic European confections like Viennese whirls and Italian sandwich cookies, but adds a new taste with orange zest.

While, the combination of mascarpone and whipped cream comes from Italian dessert traditions, particularly those found in tiramisu and semifreddo. This dessert is light, smooth textures layered between crisp cookies.

Pro Tips for the Best Paradise Cookies

• Freshly zested orange is important as it gives your cookies that citrus-forward pop. So, don’t use the bottled stuff.
• Softened butter matters and this is different from melted or cold butter. Let it sit out until you can easily press a finger into it.
• Pick a consistent cutter size because matching halves are much easier to sandwich.
• Let cookies cool fully so the cream filling doesn't melt. If the cookies are even slightly warm, it will affect your cookies.

Can I Use Other Citrus Instead of Orange?

Lemon zest adds a sharper, brighter punch, while lime offers a more tropical flavour. Just keep the quantity the same and adjust to taste. You can even mix zests for a more complex flavor.

What If I Don’t Have Mascarpone?

You can substitute mascarpone with cream cheese, but the taste and texture will be different. For the closest match, add a tablespoon of heavy cream to soften it up before folding into the whipped cream.

Do These Work for Holiday Gifts?

They work just great. Bake the cookies ahead and store them unfilled, then assemble them fresh before gifting. Use little paper liners or wrap them in parchment inside a gift tin for extra wow factor.

How to Store Any Leftovers

Assembled cookies need to be stored in the refrigerator, although the cookies may soften slightly from the cream. If you’ve kept some of the cookies unfilled, store those at room temperature for up to a week and fill as needed. You can freeze the unfilled cookies once baked because if you freeze the filled cookies, the cream doesn’t thaw well and will turn watery.

How to Make Paradise Sandwich Cookies

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment. Then, beat softened butter with the sugar, add in the orange zest and crack in the eggs. Keep beating until you get a smooth cake-like batter. Add the flour to the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.

Knead the dough lightly until it’s smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for an hour. Go do something productive, or not.

While the dough chills, whip the full-fat cream with the powdered sugar and orange zest..

Meanwhile, whip full-fat cream and mascarpone.

Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to about 2–3mm thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to punch out circles and place them on the baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes and let them down. Once cool, sandwich two cookies together with a generous dollop of cream in the middle. Then, serve and enjoy the praise. You’ve earned it.