David can’t stop eating these cookies. Julia either. Both of them like sweets, but they also have remarkable self restraint about eating them. But not these. David says they taste like the pop tarts of his dreams. Instead of pastry, though, the jam filling is surrounded by a tender buttery cookie. Simple and delicious. And a homemade batch makes a sweet Valentine’s Day gift.
The price of this exceptionally tender cookie is a soft and crumbly dough that can be a little tricky to handle. There’s an easy cure, though: just keep it well chilled, and you’ll be fine. Of course, you can cut them to any shape you like, but a heart is especially sweet. Just don’t cut them any smaller than about 2 inches across or they’ll be hard to fill.
Recipe
(Adapted from “Jam-Filled Sandwich Cookies” in Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Makes 18-24 cookies depending on size.)
Ingredients
1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
2 sticks (8oz or 113g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups (272g) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (86g) cornstarch
2 pinches of fine salt
About 3/4 cup (240g) jam, for filling
Sugar, for sprinkling
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
1. Strain or sift the confectioners sugar into the bowl of a standing mixer (or a large bowl if you’re using a hand mixer) filled with the butter chunks. Add the sugar and beat at low speed with the paddle attachment until smooth.
2. Put the strainer or sifter over the bowl again and add the flour, cornstarch and salt. Stir them around to combine and then shake them into the butter mixture. Pulse the mixer a couple of times, so you don’t have flying flour, and then beat on low speed until the dough just comes together. There will be a stage when the dough is very crumbly –mix on. When it starts to clump together around the sides of the bowl, stop mixing. Dump the dough onto a work surface and gently knead it together.
3. Divide the dough into 4 parts and shape each into a disk. Place each disk between two sheets of wax paper or parchment and roll it to a thickness of about 1/8 inch (3mm). Don’t worry about the shape of the dough. Stack up the paper-clad sheets of dough and refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.
4. When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven an preheat to 350F (177C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
5. Take one sheet of dough from the fridge, peel off the top piece of paper, cut out cookies and place them on a lined baking sheet. (Work quickly. If you get distracted, and the dough gets too warm and fragile to handle, just put it back in the fridge to chill for a few minutes before continuing.) Put the filled baking sheet in the fridge while you’re cutting out the cookies from the second sheet of dough. You’ll want to end up with an even number of cookies, of course.
6. Gather the scraps, knead them into a ball and reroll them as before. Refrigerate until firm.
7. Take the cookies from the fridge and place 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of half of them (but no more or it will ooze out). Dip a finger in water and run it around the edge of the cookie. Lay an un-jammed cookie on top and gently press around the edges to seal. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
8. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and colored only around the edges. (The tops may crack, but that’s fine.) Carefully transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool to room temperature.
9. Make the second set of cookies as before, making sure that your baking sheets are completely cooled before reusing them.
10. Dust with confectioners sugar, if you’d like, just before serving.
