The Best Cookie Ever for the Classic: Andrew bakes Dorie Greenspan’s Beurre et Sel Jammers for the Hampton Classic

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The Best Cookie Ever for the Classic

The Best Table from #TheBridgehamptonFlorist no matter who won.

As long-time readers know, the Hampton Classic Horse Show is unofficially the last blast of summer, a big party under huge tents that marks the end of the social season out here. It’s traditionally one of the biggest celebrity draws of the year. But this year, there was an unwelcome visitor, Hurricane Hermine. The $300,000 Grand Prix was quickly re-scheduled for an earlier start. While the sun

shone brilliantly and the wind was more a welcome breeze, apparently a lot of people “didn’t get the memo”. A large segment of our summer population left town imagining that if they waited any longer, they’d have a hard slog in the storm. So Classic standbys like the inimitable Joy Marks, famous for changing outfits mid-show, were nowhere to be found. Matt Lauer was delivering his son to Boarding School. Mayor Giuliani, who is persona-non-grata out here this season, wisely stayed away. In fact the only truly bold-faced name we saw was Brooke Shields. They really missed a lot.

Place setting by #The Bridgehampton Florist

The Jump Off, where 5 horses competed for the Grand Prize was the most exciting in years as rider after rider bested each other’s times. The Grand Prix luncheon table designers outdid themselves again this year. And best of all, the table of our hosts, Hamptons Cottages and Gardens judged the table of our hosts, Michael and Jim of The Bridgehampton Florist, Second Prize Winner of Best Table arrangement. (All anyone could ask was who was First if this magnificent table was second.) And the other thing the no-shows missed wascAndrew’s incredible discovery: Dorie Greenspan’s Beurre et Sel Jammers, a jam-filled shortbread cookie so buttery and luscious that it makes my list of Best Cookie ever at The Classic.

Dorie Greenspan is one of our favorite cookbook authors. Her “Around My French Table” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010) is one of those cookbooks where I look first for inspiration. But Ms Greenspan’s fame is most often ascribed to her remarkable career in baking. She’s a James Beard Award winner for “Baking: From My Home to Yours” and “Baking with Julia”. For an all-too-brief a time, she and her son, Joshua, described as a “Cookie Monster” owned a stall in The Essex Market, a lower East Side food destination at 120 Essex Street. After a 15 month run in 2012 and 2013, the stall closed. It was likely a victim of the high cost of her merchandise combined with a clientele that is still looking for bargains on the lower East Side. Andrew and I made a pilgrimage there when it opened. We were delighted with its array of cookies. Her fan favorites were all there from Classic Vanilla Sables to Chocolate Chunkers. And then there were the unexpected delights of Coconut Lime and Savory Rosemary Parmesan Sables. And there were Jammers. So when Andrew came across the recipe for them in a Bon Appetit magazine, he couldn’t wait to bake them.

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 in Bon Appetit Magazine

Yield Makes about 34

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 1/4″ 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.

The Best Cookie Ever for the Classic: Andrew bakes Dorie Greenspan’s Beurre et Sel Jammers for the Hampton Classic

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