Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Apricot sandwich cookies

I love a super simple cookie. One that isn't overly sweet or fussy. One that goes well with tea. One that you can almost convince yourself is a completely legitimate breakfast option, because it has jam in it.

apricot sandwich cookie
{apricot sandwich cookies}

These work pretty well on all those levels. They are simple, delicate, lemon-y, and filled with jam.
Apricot sandwich cookies (from Martha Stewart's Cookies, makes 10 large or 1 1/2 dozen small)

1/2 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup apricot jam

Whisk together both flours, cornstarch and salt in a bowl.

Beat butter, sugars, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice in an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture gradually. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll dough out, approximately 1/8" thick. (Martha recommends rolling between two pieces of parchment paper, but I just used a well floured board). Refrigerate or freeze for 10 minutes.

Cut cookies with desired shape (Martha calls for a 1 1/8" scalloped round, I just used the edge of a drinking glass). Refrigerate cut cookies for 10 minutes before popping them in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, until cookies are a pale golden color.

Strain jam through a fine sieve and whisk in the remaining lemon juice. When cookies are cool, make sandwiches by dribbling a bit of jam on a cookie and placing another cookie on top. The jam will set up in about 30 minutes.
This dough was soft, soft, soft. I chilled it before rolling it out and still had to add flour in order to avoid having it stick to everything in sight. It probably would help to follow the instructions and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper, but I hate doing that for some reason.

The recipe says to dust the cookies with powdered sugar, but I prefer them plain. Less mess, less sweetness. The cookies are crisp and delicious directly out of the oven and then they soften up a bit and have a wonderful, slightly chewy texture once they sit. Heavenly.

17 comments:

  1. Oh, hurray! I'm a huge fan of apricot.

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  2. I love your reasons for a good simple cookie: breakfast and tea material :)

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  3. Love the recipie. One question, I live in VA and have no idea as to where I can get almond flower...Trader Joe's perhaps?

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  4. Yes. Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Or you can buy blanched, peeled almonds and pop them into your food processor.

    I am making these for all of the tea parties I plan to host forever.

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  5. Oh MAN, I love sandwich cookies with jam inside. Or Nutella. Or...pretty much anything, actually. Yum.

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  6. Sounds amazing! Oddly enough, I just looked in my fridge last night and realized that I have a half full jar of apricot jam. Perfect excuse to make these!

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  7. these look like the perfect summer cookie!

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  8. Oh my goodness ... I'm hungry.

    I've justified eating cake for breakfast too many times to count ;)

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  9. i can vouch for these. They are total lemony deliciousness.

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  10. mmm! I have really been loving apricot lately and these look so delicious with the lemon!

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  11. These look delicious! Great photo, too!

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  12. these look divine. thanks for sharing!

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  13. They look so cute! I've never tried making biscuits that have a filling but I'm inspired!

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  14. THANK FOR SHARE IT!

    I'll try it this same night!!






    lainarollercoaster.blogspot.com

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  15. My goodness these look delicious! I will have to make some up tomorrow for sure.

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