Cookies Archives - Page 15 of 16

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

By threejamigos | December 22, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

The kids are home! These cookies disappeared crazy fast (which makes me happy). Who doesn’t like a buttery, crumbly, tender shortbread-like cookie with a hint of citrus and filled with sweet, tart jam? Bah humbug if that’s you!

Here is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas to launch this post!

Bam, I LOVE Jam

I have a weakness for toast with butter and jam, PBJs and day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry jam. Ok, so I’m cheating, it’s cranberry sauce but if it’s between slices of bread it’s jam to me. My first-holiday cookie post highlighted Dorie Greenspan’s Jammers. While they are worth the effort, there are times when you just need to bust out a batch of yummy cookies. These thumbprint cookies fit the bill. The recipe comes from Food Network, Emeril’s Holiday cookies. Yes, THAT Emeril, BAM! Delicious cookie. The original recipe calls for raspberry jam surrounded by a tender buttery cookie kicked up with lemon zest and juice. Like many recipes, this one lends itself well to “alterations”. I used orange zest and juice. I’m sure just about any citrus juice and zest will work. Dancing in my head? Not sugarplums but visions of thumbprints made with lime + strawberry jam and lemon + blueberry jam . Let me know if you come up with a winning combination. Use your “jamagination”.

Jest Jammin’

The original recipe mixes liqueur with the jam, I skipped this step. But a Chambord or Framboise would work well. Just stir the liqueur, 1 tablespoon, into the jam before filling the cookies. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour before forming cookies. Form the cookies, place them on a cookie sheet, and chill again for approximately 10 minutes so that the sheets are cold and the dough is firm. This helps the cookie from spreading too much. I used a 1-ounce ice cream scoop to measure out the dough. I might make them a little smaller for holiday gift-giving. The cookies did not need the full 20 minutes of baking time. Start checking at 13-15 minutes. They will brown quickly.

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Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints adapted from Emeril!

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Almond Cookies, emeril, jam, thumbprints

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 8

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Dry Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

2 sticks 1 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest feel free to substitute orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Jam Finish

1/2 cup raspberry jam or jam of choice, anything works

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line baking sheet with parchment or silpat sheets
In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients, whisk to blend.
Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well combined.
Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form.
Gather the dough together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill for 30 min-1 hour until dough firms up.
Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon press center of each ball making a depression. I use the end of a wooden spoon.
Fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture.
Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Almond Cookies: Homage to Mrs. F

By threejamigos | December 20, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

My brother-in-law’s mother passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. Through the years we would see her at family functions and exchange pleasantries. Every Christmas we were the lucky recipients of one of her signature pink cake boxes filled with a variety of delicious homemade holiday cookies. We all had our favorites. Me, I loved her almond cookies. They were just like the ones in the windows of Chinatown bakeries, crumbly, full of almond flavor and finished with an almond pressed into the center.

Unfortunately I do not have her recipe but I do have one by Belinda Leong of B patisserie in San Francisco. Bursting with almond flavor and buttery goodness this is an amazingly delicious cookie that for me pays tribute to Mrs. F. Baking these lovely morsels conjures up the image of her pink boxes stacked on the holiday table. Most of all it reminds me of her warm smile and her kind and generous spirit. She will be missed.

Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)/Auld Lang Syne performed by Yo- Yo Ma and Chris Botti

The recipe for these wonderful almond cookies is from Andrea Nguyen’s blog post Viet World Kitchen. The recipe was first published in the book Chef’s Table by Carolyn Jung. There were some glitches in the recipe and luckily food people are of the most generous spirit. No sooner had I emailed Ms. Nguyen she responded answering all my questions and updating her website. Here is the link to the recipe on her blog, Viet World Kitchen. I weighed the flour using the 8.75 ounces and used 1/2 cup volume measurement for the sugar. Start checking the cookies early. My batch only took 12 minutes to bake. If you like crisp, buttery, almond flavored cookies..BAKE THESE, you won’t regret it.

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Almond Cookies

Buttery, crispy, full of almond flavor. These cookies from B's Patisserie are a winner.

Course cookies

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Almond Cookies

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups 8.75 oz / 250 g all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 ounces 120 g almond paste
1/2 cup 3.5 oz / 100 g sugar
2 sticks 8 oz / 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces 120 g sliced or chopped slivered almonds
Powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C / gas mark 4) with a rack in the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda. Set aside.
Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make the dough. Cut the almond paste into thick slices or big chunks. Put them in the mixer with the sugar. On low speed, mix the ingredients together until the almond paste has broken up into big pea-like pieces.
Pause to add the butter. On medium-low speed, beat the ingredients until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined (you no longer see flour bits). Add the almonds and use the lowest speed (“Stir” on a Kitchen Aide) to mix into the dough.
Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar in a small bowl or on your work surface. For slightly gnarly/textured cookies, pinch off balls of dough – each the size of a big cherry tomato (1.5 inch / 3.75 cm wide). Roll in powdered sugar, then place on the prepared sheet pan, spaced 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Flatten each ball slightly as you work. (If you want neater cookies, squeeze and roll the dough into a fat log and cut crosswise into pieces. Roll them into balls, coat in the sugar, etc. See the photo above.)
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for several days.

Day 7: A Walk on the Savory Side (Parm shortbread)

By threejamigos | December 18, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Jamie is back from Houston–the first one home for the holiday break! Kids coming home means its time to stock the fridge and pantry. Food 24-7! I decided to make a big pot of soup to chase away the winter chill that has settled in. One of Jamie’s favorites is Potato Leek Soup. Flavorful, filling and easy to make plus there are infinite ways you can tweak this soup. For this batch I added kohlrabi that not only sweetens the soup but gives it a slightly earthy finish. Think of kohlrabi as a cross between cabbage and broccoli. You can also change up the stock. I used chicken stock this time but you could use a vegetable stock, fish stock or clam juice and garnish it with crab meat for a “gussied up version”.

To keep up with the holiday cookie countdown, I made a savory cookie to go along with the soup. I found a Parmesan Rosemary and Thyme Shortbread on Savory Simple, adapted from an Ina Garten recipe. This savory bite starts out much like a shortbread cookie but takes a turn with the addition of herbs, salt, a generous grind of pepper and parmesan cheese. Variations include using different herbs, use all thyme, or add a dash of cayenne pepper or some lemon zest–infinite possibilities! The cheese adds a nice finishing crunch to the cookie giving it the snap of a cracker. This cookie not only goes well with soup but would be great on a cheese plate with a fig jam or pepper jelly as a foil. Another holiday winner. So for cookie number 7 Parmesan Herb Shortbread with Potato Leek Soup. Enjoy!

And for your listening pleasure as you enjoy a hot bowl of soup and shortbread crackers…I Love the Winter Weather sung by the incomparable Tony Bennett!

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Parmesan, Thyme and Rosemary Shortbread

Ingredients

Adapted from Savory Simple and Ina Garten

Parmesan, Thyme, Rosemary Shortbread

1/4 pound 1 stick unsalted butter
3 ounces grated Parmesan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Potato Leek soup

3 leeks rinsed, white part only, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
3-4 potatoes diced
6-8 cups of stock chicken, seafood, or water
1/3 - 1/2 cup heavy cream or sour cream
S&P to taste

Optional:

2-3 kohlrabi peeled and diced or broccoli stems from 1 bunch peeled and diced
chives
lump crab meat or sautéed wild mushrooms for garnish
pancetta or bacon salute until crisp and reserved for garnish

Instructions

For Shortbread:

Cream butter in mixer until smooth. Add Parmesan, flour, salt, herbs* and pepper and combine until dough begins to clump. Do not over mix.
*Experiment with different herbs. Decrease the amount of rosemary and increase thyme. Add grated lemon peel (1/2 tsp.) with rosemary.
Add a dash of cayenne pepper
Pour the dough onto a lightly floured board and roll into a 13-inch long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden or chill in fridge until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut the log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake for approximately 22 minutes.

For soup:

Over medium heat, add 1 T oil + 1 T butter to 8 quart pot. Saute' onions until soft and transparent add garlic and saute' for additional minute. Add leeks, potatoes, kohlrabi if using, and stock. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to simmer. Partially cover pot and simmer until vegetables are completely soft, about 45 minutes.
Using a hand blender or blender, puree soup until desired consistency. Completely smooth for a classic version or leave it a little chunky for a more rustic soup.
Add cream heat to warm through (for a lighter version omit cream.)
If soup is to thick, add broth to desired consistency
Salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with bacon, pancetta or chives and a dollop of creme fraiche' or crab meat if a seafood stock is used.

Halfway There! Pecan Sandies Day 6 Holiday Cookies

By threejamigos | December 15, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Day 6 of #holidaycookies! Another one bite wonder, this time brought to you by the delightful blog Smitten Kitchen. I have to admit, I love SK but she is making me feel like a slacker. As I struggle to get my 12 days of holiday cookies completed, multiple posts pop up daily from SK. She must have a band of elves that help her every night or perhaps she spent summer trying winter holiday recipes that she is now posting. I have this vision of her baking gingerbread in July in her apartment in one hundred degrees and the AC is broken. I think the Holiday Cookie Countdown is turning me into Grinch.

The recipe is from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming which unfortunately is not in print anymore. If you ever see a copy grab it, the Caramel Chocolate Tarts are worth the purchase alone. Smitten Kitchen + Claudia Fleming + Pecans = Appointment baking.

The key to these cookies is toasting the pecans. It’s a good cookie not great. Like many shortbread cookies they may benefit from sitting a day for the flavor to develop. I sprinkled some sanding sugar on them but I think I may make a blend of Fleur de Sel and sugar to sprinkle on my next batch (my sweet salty fixation) or maybe dip them in chocolate. The cookies are cut into 1 inch squares and 3/16 of an inch thickness. I would prefer the cookie a little larger, say 1.25 inches square and 1/4 inch thick just to give the cookie a little more substance. My little cheats call for using a ziplock bag to roll the dough in for straight edges and a pizza cutter to cut the squares, nifty huh. Still a lovely cookie to present on a platter with other nibbles.

Smitten Kitchen in July + Sand-ies which makes me think of beaches = a tropical holiday song! Mele Kalikimaka by the Brothers Cazimero. Enjoy!

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Pecan Sandies

Ingredients

1 cup about 110 grams pecans
2 cups 250 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup 225 grams or 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup 80 grams confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons 10 ml vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons 25 grams turbinado (raw) sugar (I used white sanding sugar)
1 teaspoons of Fleur de Sel

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the nuts out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake them, stirring occasionally, until they are well browned, 10 to 13 minutes (they will smell toasted and nutty). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
In a food processor, grind the nuts with 1/4 cup of the flour. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Sift together the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour, the salt, and the baking powder, and add it to the dough, mixing until just combined. Stir in the nut mixture. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper to 3/16 inch thick (a rectangle approximately 10 x 14 inches). Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1-inch squares, then cut the squares on a diagonal into triangles (I skipped the last cut into triangles). Sprinkle the cookies with the turbinado sugar. Place them 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets (do not reroll the scraps). Prick the cookies with a fork and bake until pale golden all over, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Sesame Cookies: Day 5 of Holiday Cookies

By threejamigos | December 12, 2015 | Comments 1 comment

It isn’t intentional and may be a blogosphere faux pax for all I know. Like posting multiple pics on Instagram on a single day which my kids tell me I shouldn’t do. But after posting Sally’s Sesame Cookies I stumbled across another recipe for sesame seed cookies on of all places the Huffington Post. I did a bit of sleuthing as I am prone to do and found that the recipe was created by Dorie Greenspan and first published in Food & Wine magazine. That made this recipe a no brainer. After all Cookies + Dorie Greenspan is a slam dunk as far as I am concerned. So here it is a second sesame seed cookie!

This is perfect for cocktail hour. These cookies are salty with just a touch of sweetness and would compliment any happy hour libation. They have the fine crumb of shortbread and ooze buttery goodness. Totally my kind of cookie plus I love the black and white sesame seeds. To top it off they are quick and easy to make. See? SLAM DUNK.

I chose a duet to go along with this cookie since it has 2 kinds of sesame seeds and drinks are mentioned in the song. Its a classic with about a billion renditions out there. I like the version by a favorite artist of mine James Taylor. Here it is, JT (the original one) with Natalie Cole, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

A food processor makes quick work of the dough (snap) which is then chilled for couple of hours (time to cyber-shop). I originally thought I would cut the dough into little bars but they look better round. I used a 1.5 inch cutter which made them the perfect one bite cookie. Don’t be alarmed by the amount of salt, it is suppose to be salty but is not overly so. The recipe in Huffington Post calls for adding water to help the dough clump but Food & Wine does not. I was able to get the dough to clump without using water. I poured the dough into a ziplock bag and smooshed the dough just until it came together. Don’t overmix! Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness using the sides of the bag to create a nice straight edge. It may not fill the entire zip-lock bag but at least you will have 3 even sides. Chill dough until firm. If the dough gets too soft as you are cutting out the cookies, place in fridge or freezer for a couple of minutes to firm it up. You can find almond meal in most markets now a days thanks to the gluten free movement. Two pound bags are available at Costco and are quite reasonable. Black sesame seeds can be found at most Asian markets and probably at Whole Foods.

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Sweet & Salty Sesame Cookies

Ingredients

From Food & Wine Magazine by Dorie Greenspan
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal or ground almonds see Note
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large egg beaten
Black and white sesame seeds for sprinkling ( 1:1)

Instructions

In a food processor, pulse the flour, almond meal, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms large clumps.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead gently until it comes together. Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to 1/4 inch thick. Slide the wax paper–covered disks onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour, until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out the cookies as close together as possible. Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the cookies with the egg and sprinkle with the black and white sesame seeds.
Bake the sesame cookies for 17 to 20 minutes, until they are lightly browned; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.

MAKE AHEAD

The rolled-out frozen cookie dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept frozen for up to 2 weeks; thaw the dough slightly before using. The baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

NOTES

Almond meal is available at health food stores and at many grocery stores. To make your own, process 4 1/2 ounces blanched almonds until finely ground.

SUGGESTED PAIRING

Green-appley California sparkling wine: NV Scharffenberger Brut

Cookie Sleuth (Sally’s Sesame Cookies)

By threejamigos | December 8, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

Day 4 of the 12 Days of Cookies..surprisingly I’m on schedule…I think

I wanted to choose a song that fit this cookie recipe but instead, I picked a beautiful song that is so relevant to what is happening in our world right now. Someday at Christmas sung by Jack Johnson.

When it comes to cookies I border on obsessive. If a recipe doesn’t turn out as expected, I turn into Sherlock Holmes. The game is afoot to solve the mystery of why a cookie doesn’t taste quite right, why it spreads too much or too little. I tried different baking sheets and tested parchment versus Silpat. Maybe it’s the butter, did I cream it too much or too little? Auugh, enough to drive me bonkers. I do have a few friends that I commiserate with who will leave no cookie unturned. My friend Kristine is like that. In another life we would both be happily ensconced in America’s Test Kitchen furiously measuring, testing, mixing, tasting.

Swap Cookies and Tips

For our cookie exchange, Kristine made her always-popular sesame cookies. The recipe was given to her by her mother-in-law Sally. Much like Benne wafers of the South, these little gems are crispy, buttery, and jam-packed with sesame seeds, a sesame flavor bomb. Kristine first shared Sally’s cookies and recipe at our inaugural preschool cookie exchange. I loved them. I made a batch but they just weren’t the same. The bottom looked lacey with lots of holes, the texture was different, and the cookie was much too crunchy.

This happens randomly with both tried and true recipes and new recipes. I would then e-mail the author of the recipe, call King Arthur Flour’s hotline, or run it by fellow bakers. At our most recent exchange, though we hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, Kristine and I immediately launched into a conversation about the texture change in my batch of cookies. Obsessive? Crazy? You be the judge.

Luckily, Kristine’s batch was perfect!

This is the perfect holiday recipe. It is a slice-and-bake cookie. You can make the dough in advance, throw it in the fridge or freezer, and bake off cookies when you need them. It makes a boatload of delicious cookies (~ 100 of those bad boys).

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Sally's Sesame Cookies

Also known as Bennes, these southern favorites are crisp, light and redolent of sesame

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Benne Wafer, black sesame seeds, cookies, slice and bake, Southern

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Ingredients

1 lb. butter 4 sticks
1 ½ c. sugar.
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sesame seeds
2 c. Angel flaked coconut sweetened
½ - 1 c. chopped almonds or walnuts.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.

Cream 1 lb. butter and 1 ½ c. sugar until blended and smooth. Do not over overmix.
Add all purpose flour, sesame seeds, coconut, chopped almonds or walnuts. Mix well. Chill; divide dough into four equal logs. Wrap each roll in plastic and keep refrigerated (may be frozen).
Take out one roll at a time and slice ¼ inch. Leave ½” space between cookies.
Bake for approximately 30-min. being careful not to over brown. I’ve never baked them the full 30-min.

Makes over 100 cookies.

Notes

Recipe is easily halved

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Almond Clouds)

By threejamigos | December 6, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

I manage to combine everything I love in one trip. How cool is that? Crew, travel, photography, food..life is good, eat pie.

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow by Diana Krall

New England Bucket List

Row at Head of the Charles in Boston: Check
In Boston:

Delicious dinner at Amelia’s Trattoria in Cambridge
Sticky buns and Jam Pop-tarts at Flour
Survive Boston traffic

Jane, Mary and Debbie’s Excellent Adventure: Check
Experience New England Fall colors Semi-check (a little too late)
Visit Quechee, Vermont.
Walk the covered bridge to get to Simon Pearce Glass
Listen to SiriusXM Radio They play 6 artists from each decade over and over and over
Chocolate-covered oyster crackers? Yep, Cocoa Bean Montpelier, Vermont

Find obscure pie shed in the middle of nowhere and eat scrumptious pie: Check

Poorhouse Pies Underhill, Vermont, get the Key Lime Pie, you won’t regret it. After watching A Few Good Pie Places on public television, this was our destiny….

Visit baking mecca King Arthur Flour: Check

Is this Heaven? No, it’s Vermont. Is it possible to pack 15 pounds of flour in my suitcase and not exceed airline weight limit? Apparently not.

And now for that cookie recipe I promised. Straight from King Arthur Flour, Almond Cloud Cookies. Yes, gluten-free and ridiculously easy, child’s play…just saying. I recommend a food processor to make the batter, an idea from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake, making it incredibly easy to make.

I used almond paste from the King Arthur Flour catalog. It calls for bitter almond oil, but, you can substitute vanilla extract and still taste the almond.

The dough is fairly stiff. I made my cookies a little smaller using a tablespoon ice cream scoop. Instead of sifting powdered sugar over the batter before baking, just roll the balls of dough in the sugar.

Do not skip the 3 finger indentations. The cookies look better. Baking time was approximately 15 minutes. The edges will be crisp and light brown and the centers soft and chewy. If you love almond and have a sweet tooth, this is the cookie for you.

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Almond Cloud Cookies

Ingredients

1 10 ounce can of almond paste
1 cup sugar
2 egg whites lightly beaten
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp. bitter almond oil substitute vanilla extract for this
1/4 salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Place almond paste and sugar in food processor bowl. Pulse to blend until mixture looks crumbly
Add egg whites, salt, extracts to almond sugar paste.
Blend until smooth. Batter will be fairly stiff, should be able to scoop batter out with tablespoon ice cream scoop.
Roll in powdered sugar until evenly coated
Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Gently press three fingers into the top of each dough ball.
Bake 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the center still chewy.

A Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Cookie

By threejamigos | December 5, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

Are you ready to start baking for the holidays? I tried two new cookie recipes yesterday to take to our annual holiday cookie swap and both are winners. We started our swap way back when the kids were in pre-school and through the years we have managed to keep the tradition alive. Our early gatherings were during the day with kids and babies in tow but have now morphed into a mom’s happy hour. We eat, drink, catch up on what we are doing as well as the kids and of course trade cookies. Amazing how quickly 17 years have flown by.

The first thing you should know is that both recipes are STUPID EASY. My favorite cooking category. If you are looking for cookies that are delicious and will illicit oohs and aahs, look no further. Oh, did I mention they are both GLUTEN FREE? BAM! The trifecta. I did not choose them because of that, they just happen to be gluten free. Here is the first one, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.

To go along with these crazy good cookies here is a Peanuts favorite The Charlie Brown Christmas Song sung by Mariah Carey.

As the song is playing, pullout the peanut butter (smooth or chunky), brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, vanilla and 1 egg. That’s all you need for this recipe! I found multiple versions of this recipe online and adapted the one from Our Best Bites. These cookies are soft, chewy and scream peanut butter flavor. You can add chocolate to take it to another level, its entirely up to you. Enjoy!

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter smooth or chunky
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use 1/2 cup white sugar & 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
Sugar for rolling
Chocolate chunks I use the chunks from TJs, you can use chips if you like
optional: heaping 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips I recommend dark or semi-sweet

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine peanut butter and sugars and until smooth (1-2 minutes on medium speed).
Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix for about a minute.
If adding chocolate, fold into dough now. Chocolate is optional, really.
Using a tablespoon ice cream scoop, scoop and shape dough into balls, roll in sugar.
Place balls on parchment lined cookie sheet, approximately 11/2 inches apart.
Using a fork, flatten with a criss cross pattern, or simply flatten with the bottom of a glass.
Press one chocolate chunk or chip into the center of cookie after flattening the dough.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, don’t overbake!
Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. Recipe can be doubled easily.

Feed the World…Cookies! (Dorie’s Jammers)

By threejamigos | December 4, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Is it December already? Time to get in the holiday spirit. In my book that means baking cookies and listening to holiday tunes. I am an unabashed lover of Christmas music. You won’t find me anywhere near a mall on Black Friday. Instead, I’ll be home pulling out my favorite Christmas CDs and kicking back. I’ll wait for CyberMonday to get serious about shopping. For my first holiday season blogging, it seems fitting to create a top 12 days of Christmas cookies list with holiday tunes to go along. If you have a tried and true delicious recipe you make every year, I would love to post it here to share with everyone. Just email or message me on Facebook. A virtual cookie swap! Don’t forget to include your favorite Christmas song, a picture of your creation, and if there is a special story behind the recipe.

I’m Excited, Lets Get Started!

Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid just for you.

Just like her World Peace Cookie, this is another yummy cookie by Dorie Greenspan (how does she do it?) aptly named Jammers. These edible jewels start with a tender shortbread cookie base topped with a nice dollop of jam and finished with a buttery, crumbly streusel topping. Before Dorie released her recipe Tim of Lottie + Doof created his version. The original Jammers are made in 3-inch ring molds. I opt to make them smaller in mini-muffin tins, an idea I found on another blog. Either way, they are delicious.

A Couple of Tips When Making these Cookies

Feel free to use your favorite jam. I often use a couple of different ones for the color appeal. Butter or spray the tins well or the cookies will stick to the pan. I use a tablespoon ice cream scoop to measure out the dough into each cup and lightly tamp the dough into the tins. This is not like a tartlet or mini piecrust. The dough should be a thick layer (~1/2 inch thick) filling approximately 2/3 of the cup. I would leave some space at the top or the jam will spill out as the cookies bake. Top with a generous sprinkle of streusel but try to leave spots of jam exposed. It is prettier that way.

Go Big Or Go Home

Christmas Eve 2022: So I decided I wanted to get closer to the original Jammer, that is, a bigger cookie. I pulled out my regular muffin tin to make Dorie’s Jammers. Through experimentation, I settled on 25 grams of dough that I tamped into each muffin cup. Yep, no rolling and cutting. This should give you a disc of dough about 1/2 inch thick that pretty much fills the tin.

The rest of the recipe is pretty much the same. Baking time is a little longer, approximately 20-22 minutes until the edge is golden brown.

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Dorie Greenspan's Jammers

Ingredients

Adapted from Lottie & Doof's version of Dorie Greenspan's Jammers by Blackjack Bakehouse

Makes about 42 cookies

Cookie dough

1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt heaping
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

Streusel Topping

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt heaping
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Directions for dough:

In large bowl or in bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. With mixer on low, beat in egg yolks and vanilla until well blended, about one minute.
Add all of flour at once and with mixer on low, blend with butter mixture until just combined. Do not overmix! (I barely beat it in and then combined the last few streaks of flour with a spatula.)
Press dough into a mound and cover dough in bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the dough. Cover bowl tightly with more wrap or foil and chill for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

Directions for Streusel:

Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in microwave. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well-combined and pebbly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

When ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray thoroughly. These babies like to stick a little, so grease the cups well.
Break up the streusel crumb topping mixture with a fork until pebbly and set aside.
Press small mounds of cookie dough, about 1 tablespoon-size, into each cup as though making a thick cookie crust (as opposed to a thin pie crust that will just crumble when you try to remove it from the mini muffin pan). The crust should come up to just below the rim of the cup and there should be a small indention in each cup for the filling.
Place about 1 teaspoon of jam/pie filling in each indentation, then top the filled cookies with a generous sprinkle of streusel mixture.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the top edges of the cookies are golden brown and the crumb mixture is golden.
Allow cookies to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove and allow to cool directly on wire rack until completely cool.
Store, uncovered or lightly covered, at room temperature