I’m excited about this cookie recipe for several reasons, not least of which is that someone I made them for told me they were the best cookies she had ever eaten. But my real enthusiasm stems from the fact that I have something this delicious to share with you at all. Because, guys- I have been cooking a lot of duds lately.
My recent culinary failures have really run the gamut of courses and cuisines. I’m embarrassed to tell you that I have baked two cakes so horrible that I’ve thrown them in the garbage after eating a slice. They were going to be a decadent sounding “tunnel of fudge” cake and a more mysterious polenta cake with maple caramel, and though it’s rare for me to find a cake that has not a single redeeming quality, these two did not. I scorched and ultimately ruined a soup pot steaming extremely mediocre and somewhat deformed tamales after spending no less than 10 hours preparing them. Add to that list some “meh” soup and a batch of muffins that tasted like I was drinking a cup of coffee, but not in a good way, and I’m ready to atone for whatever sins I committed against the kitchen gods because I. Just. Can’t. Take. Any. More. Failure.
So you can understand how, in the midst of these misadventures, these little spoon cookies have lifted my spirits. And they’ve been taste-tested by an office full of cookie eaters, so you don’t have to rely on my taste buds which have clearly been deprived of anything delicious for quite some time. Now, they’re not exactly a slice and bake, get ’em in the oven quick kind of treat. They do take some time and some love to put together but once you get the hang of molding them into the hollows of a spoon, they’ll be ready in no time.
The texture of these cookies (and the jam inside) reminds me of a cross between a linzer cookie and shortbread. But there are no nuts (and therefore no grinding of nuts), just the nuttiness of delicious brown butter. After browning the butter in a large pan, you mix the ingredients right there on the stovetop! Then comes a short chill in the refrigerator, and they’re ready for you to coax them into spoons and onto the tray. Fill them with whatever kind of jam you like (I’m a strawberry girl through and through), then WAIT TWO DAYS (they have to age like a fine wine) and behold the most delicious cookies. Cookies that have given me hope that my kitchen, and whatever you call the culinary equivalent of a “green thumb,” are not broken.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, slightly rounded
- Heaping 1/3 cup fruit preserves
Instructions
- Fill the kitchen sink with a few inches of very cold water.
- In a medium heavy saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns golden and smells nutty and flecks on the bottom of the pan turn a rich brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Butter will initially foam a bit, then dissipate. A thicker foam will appear and cover the surface just before the butter begins to brown; stir more frequently once this occurs.) Remove the pan from the heat and place it in the sink to stop the butter from cooking further. Cool, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the sink, and stir in the sugar and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir until a dough forms. Shape the dough into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Set aside at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours to allow the flavors to develop. (Alternatively, chill dough balls until you’re ready to use them. Allow the chilled dough to soften at room temperature for at least one hour before shaping into cookies and baking).
- Once the dough is ready, set an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Choose a teaspoon with a deep bowl. (Molly from Orangette found that older spoons tend to have deeper bowls. I just used the spoons I had. Do not use a measuring spoon.) Pinch off a small bit of dough from one of the balls and press it into the bowl of the spoon, flattening the top. The dough will feel crumbly, but as you press and mold it, it will become cohesive. Pressing gently, slide the shaped dough out of the spoon and place it, flat side down, on an ungreased baking sheet. (I lined mine with parchment paper.) Continue forming cookies and arranging them on the sheet pan; you should be able to fit about 18 cookies. Bake the cookies until just pale golden, about 8 to 15 minutes (mine took closer to 15). Cool them on the sheet pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes; then transfer them to the rack and cool completely. Meanwhile, continue shaping and baking more cookies until all the dough is gone. You should be able to make about 60 to 70 cookies in all.
- Transfer cookies to an airtight container and wait 2 days before eating to allow the flavor to develop. (Or, if making them well in advance, freeze them.)
Notes
From Gourmet via Orangette
March 26, 2014 at 6:10 pm
I love cookies with jam!! They are the best, it makes them even softer 🙂