Dorie Greenspan's Beurre & Sel Jammers

On my list of destinations next time I visit NYC: Beurre et Sel. It's a cookie store, created by award-winning cookbook author and chef Dorie Greenspan. And if this recipe is an indication of the cookie quality at this store, then I'm sold.

I will sit on a blanket in Central Park, drink a perfect latte and eat buttery cookies with just-the-right-amount-of-salt. There will be tickets to a musical tucked into my guide book, and a bike lying on the grass beside my picnic blanket. Manhattan, it's been too long!

Around this time of year, I start looking through my cupboard, taking stock of what jams, jellies and preserves have made it through the long winter. It's time to make room for this spring and summer's new jars - and what better way to get rid of jam then to dollop it in a buttery, crispy cookie, and surround it with streusel! Don't be put off by the recipe's instructions to make the cookies in muffin tins. I too was skeptical, but was won over by the perfect shape and texture of the cookie. This is not a simple drop cookie you can churn out in 10 minutes, but the extra time and preparation makes for an out-of-this-world cookie. I might go as far as to say this is the best cookie I've ever baked.

(here they are - filled with blueberry jam and pear-ginger-orange conserve)

Beurre et Sel Jammers
Makes about 34 cookies. From this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. I used local/organic k2 Milling's Red Tail Flour, which is a mix of spelt, oat and wheat flour. However, if you can't find that, I would use all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour. There's lots of steps to these cookies - if you want, you can make the dough and streusel 1 or 2 days ahead of time, leaving them in the fridge/freezer.

cookie dough:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (see note)

streusel and assembly:
3/4 cup flour (see note)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
5 1/2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup thick jam of your choice

things you need:
2 inch cookie cutter
3 standard 12-cup muffin tins

make the dough:
Beat butter in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add sugars and salt, beat 1 more minute. Change speed to low, and mix in egg yolks and vanilla. Add flour, and mix until just combined.

Divide the dough (very soft and sticky) into two balls. Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper, one at a time, flattening the dough until it's 1/4 inch thick. Stack the two large, thin circles of dough (still sandwiched in the parchment) onto a cookie sheet or large plate that fits in your freezer. Freeze until very firm, at least 2 hours.

make streusel:
Mix together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Using your fingers, rub in the cold butter and vanilla, until the streusel looks like crumbs, and holds together when you squeeze it. Put it in the fridge to stay cold.

assemble the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350. Using the cookie cutter, cut out circles from frozen dough. Gather scraps and repeat, until you have around 34 cookies. Press the cookie rounds into the muffin tins, then put them back in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

Finally, remove the cookies from the freezer. Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam into the centre of each, then use a small spoon to sprinkle about 1 tbsp of streusel around the jam. Bake cookies for 20-22 minutes, until streusel and cookie is golden. Let cool for 15 minutes in muffin tins, then remove by running a knife around the edge of each cookie. Cool the cookies the rest of the way on a wire rack. Cookies will keep for 3 or 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

(dreaming of New York City today.)

a peanut butter and jam sandwich... cookie.

It's not a sandwich, it's a sandwich cookie. And it's vegan. And it passed the test of a garage full of hungry mechanics at my boyfriend's work (I told him not to talk about the vegan part).

This recipe makes a great, crisp-chewy peanut butter cookie, and you could stop right there and have a perfectly good dessert. But I think you should go the extra step and throw some jam in the centre. Use any kind of jam you like; a classic grape jelly, a tangy raspberry jam, or an apple butter. I like to make the little sandwiches about an hour before I serve them - the jam sinks into the cookie and makes it get soft and gooey. But a day later, and you'll have a soggy cookie mess (which is still delicious, but kind of falls apart as you eat it). 

Want another flavour of sandwich cookie? Try a gingered sugar cookie with apple butter I made a few months ago. Or, Martha Stewart's zucchini nut bread cookie sandwiches. It's a mouthful. Martha's also got this cute peanut butter and jelly cookie cake- they look like tiny sandwich triangles! Now I can't stop - what about this brownie cookie with salted caramel filling? So many cookie sandwiches, so little time.

peanut butter and jam sandwich cookies

Cookie part adapted from peanut ginger sesame cookies from the Veganomicon cookbook. Makes 24 sandwich cookies. 

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegan shortening (or butter)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (or honey)
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy milk (or regular milk)
1 tsp vanilla

1-2 cups jam of your choice

Pre-heat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add peanut butter, brown rice syrup, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla and beat another 3 minutes. Stir in the flour. Keep stirring another 3 or 4 minutes. The dough will become hard to stir - keep going! Scoop out two inch balls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, leaving quite a bit of space between each. The cookies will spread and double in size. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a rack to cool.

When cookies are completely cool, and about an hour before you plan to eat/serve them, spread jam on one cookie and top with a second cookie. 

a vegan cookie and a not so vegan cookie

Surprise! They're the same cookie. Here's a recipe for my vegan friends and my non-vegan friends. A chocolatley cookie, somewhere half between the land of crispy and soft, perfect for a summer potluck or picnic when you need something that vegans and carnivores will appreciate equally. Or, if you're like me, make them into a drippy, delicious ice cream sandwich. Feeling virtuous? Use whole wheat pastry flour, flax eggs and Earth Balance (vegan margarine). Feeling decadent? Use white flour, eggs and butter. Either way, its a forgivable recipe, and its gonna taste good no matter what (it's a chocolate chip cookie, right?).

(trying out a sketching program for mac, surprise, it's not markers! and I wish I had a touchscreen.)

Chocolate chocolate chip cookies
adapted from this recipe on Epicurious, makes 16 large cookies

3/4 cup softened, unsalted butter (OR Earth Balance margarine)
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg (OR 1 tbsp ground flax seeds, whisked with 3 tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips
(make sure they're dairy free if you're making the vegan cookies, most semi-sweet varieties are vegan.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream together butter/margarine and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add egg/flax egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, soda, baking powder and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and stir until well combined. If the mixture is too dry, add a few splashes of soy milk or water (I had to add 2 or 3 tablespoons). Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop tablespoon-size balls of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with your hand. Leave an inch or two between each cookie, they will spread out a bit. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the centre of the cookies no longer looks doughy and jiggly. The cookies will not be crispy. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now, you're ready to make...

Chocolate chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches
You'll need two cookies for each sandwich. Hopefully you haven't eaten them all yet.

chocolate chocolate chip cookies
softened vanilla ice cream (leave it on the counter for 10 minutes)

Scoop spoonfuls of ice cream onto an upside-down cookie. Put another cookie on top. Wrap the whole thing in parchment paper or plastic wrap (you could reuse the paper you baked the cookies on), and put them in the freezer for at least a half hour. Resist! Let them get nice and cold and frozen, before devouring them, like cookie monster. COOKIE!

gingered sugar cookies with apple butter

Why stop at the oreo? I have nothing against the oreo, a staple of crisp chocolate cookie and sickly sweet icing. However, why is this chocolate/vanilla combination the only famous sandwich cookie? Other cookies (the oatmeal chip, the classic sugar, the gingersnap) are calling out to be made into cookie sandwiches! Fill me with cream cheese, with flavoured icing, with jam, with nut butters, they cry! Here's the flavour combination I've been dreaming of for a few weeks: a ginger cookie, loaded with crystallized ginger, with a apple butter filling.

gingered sugar cookies with apple butter
(cookie recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated. makes about 20 sandwich cookies.)

1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
1 tsp vanilla paste
apple butter for spreading (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 375. Pulse white sugar and fresh ginger in food processor. Set aside for rolling later. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and ginger in a bowl. In another bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. Add ginger and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, stirring until combined.

Using a bowl of water to wet your hands, roll 1 inch balls of dough. Roll in gingered sugar. Flatten with your fingers on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cookies will spread a bit, so leave room between each. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Let cook for a few minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Spread a tbsp of apple butter on the bottom of one cookie. Press two cookies together.

Voila, the new, sophisticated sandwich cookie. If you eat them right away, the cookies will still be crispy. If you leave them a day, they apple butter will soften the cookie. Both are equally delicious. Enjoy!

(mmmm, apple butter)

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I finally borrowed Veganomicon from the library! It's an awesome vegan cookbook; beautifully designed, clear and conversational. And, the whole thing is available on Google Books! Anyway, here's the first recipe (of many) that I tried out, with a few minor changes. It's wheat free, and obviously, vegan. Don't let this turn you off - I brought them to school and fed them to a bunch of non-vegans with no complaints. Actually no complaints AND enjoyment and delight! (Although dancers are pretty much always eating, you can feed them anything sweet and free and they will be happy.)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies (wheat-free chocolate chip cookies in Veganomicon)

1 1/2 cups oat flour (just throw some rolled oats in a blender or food processor)
1/4 cup oatmeal (I added this for some extra texture)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup soy milk (or rice or almond or chocolate soy milk - that's what I used)
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (try a flavored chocolate - orange or mint)

Preheat your oven to 375 (my oven is a little over-excited, I turned it down to 350, but I don't have a thermometer to check the real temperature). Whisk together the oat flour, oats, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the flax seeds and soy milk. Add both sugars, canola oil and vanilla and whisk until the oil in emulsified, about 1 minute. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, then fold in the chocolate chunks. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a slightly greased sheet - be sure to leave at least 1 1/2 inches between the cookies - they spread! Bake for 8-10 minutes, then let them cool a bit on the sheet. Don't let them completely cool on the sheet though! My first batch glued themselves to the sheet.

I used Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Mint, but you could use any dark chocolate bar well-chopped. My next batch will be with Cocoa Camino's Dark Orange, maybe with some pecans thrown in. Can you tell I'm a big fan of dark chocolate? Sorry for the lack of picture - they were gone too fast to photograph!