Ive been so in the mood for cookies lately.
If you’ve been following me on instagram (ahem, you should be) then you know from my disgustingly sweaty stories that I try to work out 3x a week. No need to roll your eyes here, this is new for me! I have never worked out on a regimen before, but Im doing it now, and am really happy about it.
But I still like cookies man, and so do my kids. So I decided one day I HAD to make cookies. I didn’t want to go classic with chocolate chip- been there, everyone’s done that. But I’m also not into the pressure and craze of coming up with some new matcha infused, hibiscus, honey, elderflower, Himalayan salted caramel stuffed cookie either. I needed something in between classic but fun.
I thought to myself hmm what was my go to when I was a kid? Instantly I remember having a fresh box of assorted cookies from a Jewish bakery that my grandparents would always go to. You know what I’m saying- that white box with the red and white string tied so tight in that criss cross way. I’d sit there pulling on each end of the string trying to maneuver it and see which side would come lose first. Never thought to just get a scissor. Finally I would get one side to shimmy down and come loose over the box edge which meant I just had to get the other part of the criss cross over the box and those cookies were mine. Lifting the lid to that cookie box was the best part. All the anticipation building from my hard work and effort trying to get it open (scissors, like hello) was about to be rewarded.
Once opened, there were sprinkle cookies, those sandwich jam cookies that I’m blanking on the name of right now, (ahhh, Linzer tarts) crispy shortbread cookies, but my favorite were and still are, the long butter sandwich cookies that were filled with jam, dunked halfway in chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. Why have cookies that have all those components separately, when you can have an all in one ultimate Jewish style buttery bakery cookie. Crunchy sprinkles, melted dark chocolate, the buttery crunch of the cookie and finally that sweetness from the jelly. Taste bud sensationnnnnn and I can’t resist them.
So once I realized (and made an Instagram poll) that I wanted to remake an old childhood favorite, I set out to see if anyone has done it before on any food blogs or any of my baking cookbooks or culinary school books. I COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING resembling what I was thinking and remembering and was getting disappointed. How do I even do a search for them I don’t even know what they are called- old school Jewish sandwich cookies..? Whatever. I went onto Pinterest for some inspiration and just typed in butter cookies. Still nothing. Then typed butter cookies jewish. Scroll. Scroll. Nothing. Nothing.
THEN I SAW THEM. A pretty pic of the exact cookies I was thinking of! I looked at who it was from and had an immediate sense of relief because I knew I hit the jackpot. Deb Perelman aka Smitten Kitchen – one of the OG food bloggers out in this blogosphere JUST came out with a new cookbook with a recipe for these bad boys. Ahhh Deb to the rescue. Thank you Deb for bringing these back to me when I didn’t even know where to start.
And just in case you are confused as to why I’m just making someone else’s recipe on my own blog, it’s because I don’t know everything, and when I see that someone I respect has done something that I love there’s no reason to try to make it my own if it’s already perfect. Like I said before, sigh of relief, Deb to the rescue.
Butter Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Add ons:
- 1/2 cup jam
- 1 cup sprinkles
- 10-to-12- ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat till light and airy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and salt and beat again. Add in the flour and mix just until incorporated.
- Cut off the corner of a ziploc bag or if you have it, fit a pastry bag with a large open star tip.
- Pipe the dough onto the parchment paper in about 2 inch long lines. If the parchment is sticking to the dough- pipe a little bit of dough on the underside of the parchment and allow it to stick to your tray to hold it in place.
- Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until they are a golden brown color.
- Allow the cookies to cool.
- Meanwhile, place the jam in a ziploc bag and snip off the end only a tiny bit!. Set aside.
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, that will be easy to dip in. Place the sprinkles on a plate or shallow bowl.
- When the cookies are cool, flip half of them over, fill them only a little bit with the jam- not so much that it will squeeze out when it is sandwiched, then top with another cookie, dip in the chocolate and roll in the sprinkles.
- Enjoy the goodness and the fun of bringing back memories
So yum! Filled them with apricot jam and rolled them in red and green sprinkles for Christmas cookie gift boxes. They were a huge hit!
YAY! so happy to hear that Melissa!!