Not too long ago, I suggested that if you made only one baked good this season, it should be the over-the-top delicious Apple Pie Bar found at http://chewingthefat.us.com/2016/12/if-you-bake-nothing-else-this-season.html. “Not so fast,” the Baker in our house protested. “If ever there was a cookie to be baked this season, Dorie Greenspan’s Beurre et Sel Jammers should be the one.” I am not one to argue. I’d given Andrew Ms. Greenspan’s latest cookbook “Dorie’s Cookies” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016) for his birthday. But he’d already made her remarkable Beurre et Sel Jammers which we published in our story about this year’s Hampton Classic Horse Show. We both decided that this was well worth repeating and also a great opportunity to tell you about Dorie’s latest book.
Dorie Greenspan is a big player in our kitchen. Aside from her baking books which now number 10 and counting, her “Around My French Table” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010) is an indispensable resource for me. Now “Dorie’s Cookies” will undoubtedly join the short list of cookbooks we can’t live without. It’s a definitive guide from a baker whose professed love for cookies is obvious from page 1. There’s a 22 page section of “techniques, ingredients and gear”. And then there are the over 300 recipes for every imaginable kind of cookie. From bars to cocktail cookies, there are page after page of beautifully photographed cookies. There are sweet cookies and savories. There are even over 40 pages of “Cookie Go Alongs and Basics”. These recipes run from Vanilla Marshmallows to Use it for Everything Struesel. This is the most comprehensive Cookie Guide we’ve ever seen. Its thoroughness is no surprise. Ms. Greenspan is not given to scrimping on words or instructions. To read one of her recipes is to imagine her next to you in the kitchen egging you on in minute detail. Our Beurre et Sel Jammers are no exception. They are also part of a collection of 16 variations running 52 pages in length in “Dorie’s Cookies”.
Any cookie this good requires a little effort but the result is so worthwhile, I bet you will bake these time and time again. There’s a cookie dough to make and a streusel to top it with. It also requires muffin tins and a two inch cookie cutter. But the good news is the dough and streusel can be made in advance and nowhere does Ms. Greenspan suggest making your own jam. Jammers also keep very well—for at least a couple of days. Here is the recipe.
Recipe for Beurre et Sel Jammers by Dorie Greenspan
Yield Makes about 30
Ingredients
For the Cookie dough:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
For the Streusel and assembly:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 1/2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup thick jam, such as lingonberry, apricot, orange marmalade, and blackberry
Special equipment: A 2″ cookie cutter; 3 standard 12-cup muffin tins
Preparation
For cookie dough:
1. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add both sugars and salt; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add flour and mix just to combine. Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
3. Divide dough in half. Place each half between sheets of parchment or waxed paper. Flatten dough into disks.
4. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough, occasionally lifting paper on both sides for easy rolling, until 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick. Freeze dough in paper until firm, at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen.
For streusel:
1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter and vanilla into dry ingredients until no large lumps remain and butter is well incorporated.
2. Streusel will be sandy and hold its shape when pressed between your fingers. Cover and chill. DO AHEAD: Streusel can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
For the assembly:
1. Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°F.
2. Using cookie cutter, cut out rounds of frozen dough from freezer. Place rounds in bottom of muffin cups and gently pat to flatten. Continue cutting frozen dough into rounds; gather scraps and repeat process of rolling out and cutting to make 34 rounds. Cover muffin tins with foil and chill in freezer until dough is firm, about 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
3. Spoon about 1 teaspoon jam into the center of each round of dough. Using your fingers or a small spoon, sprinkle 1-1 1/2 tablespoons streusel around edges of each cookie, trying not to get any in the jam.
4. Bake cookies, in batches if needed, until sides and streusel are golden, 20-22 minutes. Let cool in tins for 15 minutes. Run a small knife around edges of muffin cups; gently remove cookies and let cool completely on a wire rack. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
I own some of those rolling pin measurement rings. With the 1/4" ring in place, there is no way that I can roll the dough to the thin-ness as indicated in the photos nor arrive at 34 servings. Are you sure it shouldn't be 1/8" thickness?
Dear Mr. Francis. Thank you so much for writing. I do appreciate your taking the time to do so. I went back to Ms. Greenspan's original recipe and discovered her yield was in fact 30 cookies and not 34. I have adjusted the yield in the recipe. I also consulted my family baker and he informs me that the thickness of the dough can range from 1/8' to 1/4 inch which I have also adjusted in the recipe. Thank you so much for keeping Chewing the Fat honest. And please let us know if you like the finished Jammers.