Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

19 Dec 2008 1 Comment

by megan in Food, Photos Tags: , , , ,

I made these cookies with my mom last weekend, and was so grateful that I had someone there to help.  Sandwich cookies are not very difficult to make, but they are a process: rolling out the dough, cutting different pieces for tops and bottoms, baking, dusting, spreading, and smooshing.

After looking for cookie cutters small enough to make a hole in the center of the top of the sandwich, we finally settled on star-shaped fondant cutters, which came in a pack of four and looked exactly like cookie cutters.

You could use any kind of jelly, jam, or other preserves you have around.  We had raspberry.

I was glad to have my mom help not only because the sandwiching process went by much more quickly, but also because she always thinks of great ways to improve cookies.  In this case, she suggested grinding up some whole, shelled almonds and adding it to the dough.  Great idea!  The almond flavor totally complemented the unsweetened raspberry preserves, and added a little bit of texture to the cookies in a way that almond extract wouldn’t have been able to do.

This recipe was adapted from the December 2008 issue of Everyday Food.

Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup finely ground almonds
  • confectioner’s sugar
  • raspberry preserves

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Add yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  With mixer on low, gradually add flour, cinnamon and almonds, mixing just until combined.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour until firm.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.  Using a smaller cookie cutter, cut out the center of half of the cookies (these will be the sandwich tops).  Bake for 8-10 minutes, turning cookie sheets halfway through, just until barely browned.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Using a fine mesh sieve, lightly dust sandwich tops with confectioner’s sugar.  Set aside.  Spread raspberry preserves on bottoms.  Place sugared cookies on top of preserves, creating a sandwich.

Spiced Pretzel Cookies

11 Dec 2008 3 Comments

by megan in Food, Photos Tags: , , , ,

Cookies like these make me feel terribly clever.  They look like pretzels, but they taste like sweet, spicy treats.  White nonpareils even make convincing grains of salt.  What a delightful way to confuse your loved ones!

This recipe was adapted from the latest issue of Everyday Food (December 2008).  The recipe in the magazine makes a relatively plain, basic cookie dough, which can be made spicy or citrusy.  I chose the former, using not pumpkin pie spice, as they called for, but similar spices I had on my spice rack.

Be sure that the dough has had sufficient time to chill.  Even then, I found it quite difficult to work with; it tended to break very easily, so an extremely gentle touch is required.

Spiced Pretzel Cookies

  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • nonpareils

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.  Add vanilla.

With mixer on low, add flour; mix just until combined.  Wrap dough in plastic and chill until firm, at least one hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Using heaping tablespoon-sized portions, gently roll cookie dough into 8-inch ropes.  Gently bend the ends of each rope into loops, forming a pretzel shape.  Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, 1 inch apart.

In a small bowl, whisk egg whites with 2 teaspoons water.  Brush cookies with egg wash and sprinkle with nonpareils.

Bake about 13-15 minutes, or until pale golden, rotating the baking sheets halfway through.

Thumbprint cookies

09 Dec 2008 2 Comments

by megan in Food, Photos Tags: , , ,

I’m not the biggest fan of jelly, except if it is on a sandwich with peanut butter.  Jelly-filled cookies and doughnuts don’t appeal to me in the slightest.  However, my grandmother changed my mind when she made a batch of thumbprint cookies a few weeks ago.  They were so delicious, I just had to make some myself.

This recipe is adapted from a Betty Crocker cookbook my grandmother had lying around.  I used almond extract instead of vanilla; it complements the nuts and the jelly so well.  I also used Polaner All Fruit spread; it is a little tarter, since there is no sugar added, but it contrasts the sweetness of the cookies quite nicely.  Half of the cookies were topped with seedless raspberry, the other half seedless blackberry.  As for the nuts, I had a can of Fisher Nut Topping leftover from my sundae bar at my birthday party.  The nuts were already chopped pretty finely, but for good measure I threw them in a sandwich bag and rolled over them with the rolling pin.  I found that pressing into the center of the cookie again after baking made the indentation even more pronounced, and thus easier to fill with jelly.

This recipe doesn’t make very many cookies; I think I only filled one cookie sheet with the recipe below.  However, they take no time at all to make, so doubling or tripling the recipe is quite easy, and also quite necessary.

Thumbprint Cookies

  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts
  • jelly

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix brown sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla and egg yolk in a medium bowl.  Stir in flour and salt until the dough holds together.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Beat egg white slightly.  Dip each ball into egg white, then roll in nuts.  Place about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Press thumb deeply into the center of each ball.

Bake about 10 minutes, or until light brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cool completely on a wire rack.  Once cooled, fill with jelly.