-
Active Time
1 3/4 hr
-
Total Time
5 3/4 hr
"You really have to wait," says Barbour. "After a couple of days, the cookies' texture becomes lovely and melting. Earlier, they are good, but later, they're transcendent. Honest." Barbour likes these best with half strawberry and half cherry preserves.
Ingredients
Makes about 30 sandwich cookies
Special Equipment
Make dough:
Step 1
Fill kitchen sink with about 2 inches of cold water. Melt butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter turns golden with a nutlike fragrance and flecks on bottom of pan turn a rich caramel brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (Butter will initially foam, then dissipate. A thicker foam will appear and cover the surface just before butter begins to brown; stir more frequently toward end of cooking.) Place pan in sink to stop cooking, then cool, stirring frequently, until butter starts to look opaque, about 4 minutes. Remove pan from sink and stir in sugar and vanilla.
Step 2
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and stir into butter mixture until a dough forms. Shape into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and let stand at cool room temperature 1 to 2 hours (to allow flavors to develop).
Form and bake cookies:
Step 3
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.
Step 4
Press a piece of dough into bowl of teaspoon, flattening top, then slide out and place, flat side down, on an ungreased baking sheet. (Dough will feel crumbly, but will become cohesive when pressed.) Continue forming cookies and arranging on sheet. Bake cookies until just pale golden, 8 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheet on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Assemble cookies:
Step 5
While cookies cool, heat preserves in a small saucepan over low heat until just runny, then pour through a sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on solids, and cool completely.
Step 6
Spread the flat side of a cookie with a thin layer of preserves. Sandwich with flat side of another cookie. Continue with remaining cookies and preserves, then let stand until set, about 45 minutes. Transfer cookies to an airtight container and wait 2 days before eating.
· Dough can be made 12 hours before baking and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature to soften slightly before forming cookies, about 30 minutes. · Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks.
Leave a Review
Reviews (143)
Back to TopMade a must in my review and meant to say I get 25 cookies, not 50! Everything else is correct. And I bake them 14-15 mins, but raise them to the top rack for last 5 mins
Nd78
Belgrade Lakes Maine
12/21/2020
I’ve made these annually since the article in Gourmet came out. I follow the instructions exactly, I take care to remove butter once the solids turn a rust color and plunge in a 9x13 pan of cold water in the sink. I press them flat on the spoon and slide them off. From one batch, I get 25 to each sheet, so 50 sandwiches. I don’t refrigerate the dough, just let it sit at room temperature one hour. I’ve tried different jams, but like Bonne Maman red currant jelly best as it’s a bit tart. I don’t heat it and find it works better, but you’ll need half to 3/4 of a jar. I let them sit in a tin between layers of waxed paper two days and the nutty flavor develops. Not all that tedious, but more than the average cookie and you’ll get the hang of forming them. You have to be in the mood to make them and you have to like rich buttery cookies. You need to handle them delicately because of the sandy texture. They’re unique, and taste divine and my family loves them. I find the spoon shape charming and wouldn’t dream of altering the shape. Well worth the effort.
Nd78
Belgrade Lakes, Maine
12/21/2020
I've been making these for years, and have finally found a way to batch them: After the dough has rested, I press/roll into a cookie sheet pan lined with parchment paper. I reserve a portion of the dough, then spread the uncooked, rolled dough with Jam. I then crumble the remaining dough over the top. All the fantastic flavors of this cookie with half or less of the work. It bakes a bit longer than the spooned cookies do, but the result is the same fantastic flavor. (PS, I usually use a small cookie sheet and double the recipe.)
daphne049
1/21/2019
The taste of the cookies alone is very buttery, nutty, a little salty and a little sweet. The texture is like shortbread. The brown butter gives it an intricate taste and makes it oily. I like it straight out of the oven and I find the taste fades a little over time. If you want the look of the cookie in the picture, you probably want too pull the cookies out of the oven on/before 10mins. Beyond that, they will get bubbling and more brown. However, the nutty buttery taste that some people like will also intensify from more bake time. Like some reviewers, I find the jam too sweet for the cookie (even though I used Marco Polo sour cherry preserves which is less sweet than most jams). And I couldn't taste the cherry. I think a milk chocolate ganache may work better. I tried semi-sweet & bittersweet chocolate ganache and they are too bitter for the cookies. Overall, my favorite cookies are still madeleines, and I prefer a lemon cardamom shortbread cookie over this one. Some people do rave about these cookies, but they rave even more about other desserts I brought.
lisachow
SF Bay Area, CA
7/12/2015
i made these because i needed something for a holiday cookie swap at work and i had all the ingredients. A really interesting cookie. The texture was surprisingly delicate and the flavor was definitely distinctive due to the browned butter. i held the dough in the fridge (mistakenly) for around an hour and a half before spooning. Also needed a lot more jam than the recipe indicates. Would make again and maybe try sprinkling with a little powdered sugar for a more festive look.
Sachi
Yonkers, NY
12/26/2014
These are so delicious. I mixed the butter and flour with my hands and used a scalloped sugar shell to shape the cookies. It was like working with wet sand but they came out fabulously. Because I already had some jam cookies on my menu, I filled these with vanilla ganache from the chocolate sandwich cookies on this site. So yummy. They were gobbled up!
nylvod
NJ
12/29/2013
I followed the advice of several other reviewers (i.e., rolling and cutting instead of shaping with a spoon, letting the dough rest unrefrigerated, etc.) and therefore found these cookies fairly easy to make. They were tasty, too, but nowhere near as life-changing as the reviews led me to believe. They did improve with age, but not to the extent I was hoping for. They're just shortbread cookies - good ones, but still shortbread. If you are a shortbread lover, you'll probably adore these. If I make them again, I'd cut them a bit larger and do them as thumbprints to avoid the sandwiching step, which was very time consuming.
alsmez
New York, NY
11/12/2013
These cookies are a little difficult to make. They are very buttery, sweet, and crunchy. When making these cookies be prepared to get your hands messy because its hard to shape the dough. Pres the dough with your palm. i would rank this recipe a 3 because i really liked it.
Erin_A_Timmons
10/25/2013
these cookies are difficult to make but very tasty. it would be a challenge to make but its worth it, they are delicious
ariana_p
10/25/2013
This process was kind of time consuming but it was completely worth it. You had to make sure you do every step right. The dough was crumbly but not to crumbly so forming the dough into the spoon wasn't that hard. The most difficult part was waiting for the butter to brown. i would make this cookie again but this time with my family.
Ambur_Pagliaro
san mateo, CA
10/25/2013
I found these cookies to be delicious. The recipe was, for the most part, easy to follow, and i have to say the most difficult part was probably browning the butter. The cookies turned out much paler than I had expected and taste best with a sweet jam. I say "sweet jam" because it creates a great contrast with the cookie itself, which tastes somewhat like shortcake. Unfortunately the cookie does crumble quite a bit, but this is a minor fault when compared to the flavor and aesthetics. I would definitely make these for holidays and get togethers
PenTrent
San Mateo, CA
10/25/2013
The ccokies were grerat without the jam. The recipe was complicated and took a lot of time. The moost fifficult part was waiting for the butter to brown. I would make this recipe again because the cookies are great for a snack.
jiameiluo
San Bruno, CA
10/25/2013
The Finnish Spoon Cookies are very good. They are flaky and the apricot jam gave it an extra kick. When my group was making the cookie it was hard scooping the batter but the outcome was worth it.
seancooking
san mateo, CA
10/25/2013
I thought the spoon cookies were a nice delicious treat. Its a mixer of bitter sweet in one bite. It is easy to do, you just got to follow the step by step instruction. The cookies turned out just like I thought to would be.
efonseca
San Bruno, CA
10/25/2013
I really enjoyed the finished product, i would recommend apricot and pineapple jam. This recipe was difficult but worthwhile. The cookie was light in color and tasted like shortbread.
alejandraramirez
San Bruno, CA
10/25/2013
See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips
-
27 Times You Should Pick Brown Butter Over Regular
Why stick with plain butter when you can use the nutty, caramelly flavor of oh-so-delicious brown butter.
