Tartine's Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies

If you've been reading this blog for a little while, I'm sure you've gathered that I am a huge fan of Tartine's cookbook collection. When the recipe for these cookies was released in anticipation the release of the third book in the Tartine series (Tartine No.3) I knew I had to make them, even though I was a bit holiday-cookied out. It is a simple recipe, with only a few ingredients that you may have in your house already (if you're like me and keep a stock of rye flour at the ready), but man, they are tasty. They are brownie like in texture, rich and salty with a bit of sour tang from the dark rye flour. I liked these cookies so much that broke my self-imposed cookbook moratorium to add Tartine No.3 to my collection and I can't wait to dive deeper into baking bread with the addition of heirloom and sprouted grains and porridges.

Tartine's Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies
yield, about 4 dozen cookies
from Tartine No.3
These cookies hit all of my baking sweet spots: whole grain flour, salt, and they are easy to put together. They have definitely earned a permanent spot in my holiday rotation of sweets.

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups muscovado sugar (or dark brown sugar)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Maldon or other flaky salt for sprinkling

1. Place a saucepan filled with one inch of water over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Set a heatproof bowl over the simmering water, taking care that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water, and melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat and let  the mixture cool slightly.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the rye flour, baking powder, and salt. 

3. Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high, adding the sugar a few tablespoons at a time, until all the sugar is incorporated. Turn the mixer to high and whip until the eggs have tripled in volume and  turned very light yellow and fluffy, about 6 minutes. 

4. Reduce the mixer to low and add the melted chocolate mixture followed by the vanilla. Mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, then add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined. The dough will be very soft. 

5. Refrigerate dough until it just firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. If cooled too long, the dough will be hard to scoop.

6. Preheat oven to 350º . Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Remove the dough from the fridge and scoop with a rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheets, shaping the balls of dough into rounds and spacing them 2 inches apart. Top each mound of dough with a few flakes of sea salt, pressing gently so it adheres.

7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies have puffed up and have a smooth bottom and rounded top with a few small cracks. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and cool slightly then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. The cookies with keep up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Chocolate Sablés with Juniper Sugar

I was recently gifted a jar of freshly foraged juniper berries and a container of juniper sugar from my friend and collaborator Tama Matsuoka Wong. Tama is a forager and conservationist and every winter she collects the berries of the eastern red cedar trees near her home in New Jersey to sell to restaurants in New York. This year, I was lucky enough to get some too! The berries (technically cones) are slightly sweeter and less harsh than commercially available dried juniper berries and they smell absolutely wonderful. When I tasted the juniper sugar, I knew it's sweet foresty flavor and subtle woodsy notes would be just the thing to add to my holiday treat arsenal so I stirred up a batch of my favorite chocolate sablé dough and coated it with the sugar before slicing. The result is a wonderful holiday flavored cookie, perfect for gifting.

More tasty holiday gifts can be found in this post from last year.

In other news:

If you are still searching for an impressive Christmas dessert, check out the Bûche de Noël I made for Food52 here.

I was recently featured on the wonderful site Pantry Confidential. Click through to peek inside my kitchen and get my recipe for Salty Caramel Apple and Cranberry Pie.

Happy Holidays!

Chocolate Sablés with Juniper Sugar
cookies adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners sugar1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juniper sugar for rolling (recipe below)

To make juniper sugar blend 3 tablespoons dried juniper berries with 1/2 cup raw sugar in a spice grinder or high powered blender. This can also be done with a mortar and pestle (and elbow grease).

Mix the butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until soft. Add in the sugar and cocoa powder. Add in the egg and vanilla, then finally add the flour and salt and mix until just combined. Dump the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and use the paper to form the dough into a log 2-inches by 12-inches. Chill the dough until firm, at least 2 hours. When firm, roll the dough log in the juniper sugar then cut into slices, just shy of 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices 1-inch apart on lined baking sheets, sprinkle with additional juniper sugar if desired, and bake in a 350º oven until they are just beginning to darken around the edges, 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets and store in an airtight container.

Chocolate and Bergamot Cookie Sandwiches

To be honest, these cookies did not start as the deep dark chocolate sandwiches that they eventually became. I had been hemming and hawing about what to do with my very first bergamot for awhile and when I finally decided that some powdered sugar tea cookies would be the way to go, my plan hit a little snag I like to call, "not really reading the recipe before cooking." Rookie mistake. I had my butter and sugar creaming in the mixer and I opened the pantry to find myself undeniably short on flour. So, I grabbed my trusty Callebaut cocoa powder and a little cornstarch, upped the salt and squeezed in some bergamot juice and turned these cookies into a chocolate and citrus pairing. I am normally not a fan of chocolate and fruit together, so I decided to up the chocolate flavor by sandwiching the cookies with a bit of melted chocolate and it worked perfectly to mellow the acid in the fruit. That said, if you don't feel like taking the time to make cookie sandwiches, don't! The cookies bake up crisp and tasty on their own and they are perfect with a nice hot cup of earl grey.

Chocolate and Bergamot Sandwiches
yield about 15 cookie sandwiches

1c softened butter
3/4c powdered sugar
1t vanilla extract
zest of one bergamot orange
2T bergamot orange juice
1 1/2c flour
1/2c cocoa powder
2T cornstarch
3/4t salt
2T cacao nibs (optional)
6oz chocolate to fill the cookie sandwiches

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt. Set aside
2. Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, and zest in a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined, then stir in the bergamot juice.
3. Add in the flour mixture and the cacao nibs and stir until just combined. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30min before rolling. While the dough is chilling preheat your oven to 350º.
4. Remove half of the dough from the fridge and roll out on a well floured surface or between 2 pieces of lightly floured parchment paper, the dough should be between 1/4''-1/8'' thick. Cut into desired shapes and place on lined baking sheets. If your dough has warmed up a bit, chill the cut cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before baking. Repeat with the other half of the dough and make sure to save and re roll the scraps. Bake for 12-15min, rotating the pans half way through the cooking time, until the cookies appear completely dry and are firm to the touch.
5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10min, then remove to a rack to cool completely. The cookies should be crisp when done. If you find your cookies are a bit soft and crumbly put them back in the oven for a few minutes until they are baked all of the way through.

To Fill the Cookie Sandwiches

1. Turn half of the cookies over to expose the smooth underside.
2. Chop the chocolate very finely and melt over a double boiler or in the microwave. Let the chocolate cool until it is the consistency of mayonaise, about 15min, then use a spoon or pastry bag to fill each cookie with about 1t of chocolate. Top each chocolate topped cookie with another cookie, smooth side down and press gently. Let the chocolate harden completely before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes:

-Bergamot is the floral, citrus flavor used in earl grey tea.
- If you find that the bergamot flavor is too strong, let the cookies sit for a day or so. The flavors mellow and blend really nicely.
- I haven't tried yet, but I think these chocolate cookies would make an excellent homemade oreo base.
- If you can't find bergamots in your area you can substitute an orange zest and juice.

Parsnip Macaroons

I know that I am not alone when I say that I love parsnips because when I posted the bouquet of them that I happily carried home from the grocery store yesterday, I got quite the response. Ok, a percentage of those responses were from a certain family member of mine (hi mom!), but still, Parsnip Lovers Unite! With cookies! I know it sounds a little bizarre to bake with something usually used in savory preparations but I find that if you choose the right specimens, parsnips are just as sweet as carrots with a more complex flavor profile. The inspiration to bake them into macaroons came from Alice Medrich and her Spicy Carrot Macaroons that I've been meaning to try for ages. With a few substitutions they baked up into little golden haystacks perfect for teatime. The parsnip flavor is subtle, like a spice note in the background that pairs really nicely with sweet maple syrup, crunchy almond and chewy coconut.

Parsnip Macaroons
inspired by Alice Medrich's Spicy Carrot Macaroons
yield 18-20 cookies

2 egg whites
3.5oz unrefined cane sugar
2oz maple syrup
1t vanilla extract
1/4t lemon zest
1/4t salt
3oz unsweetened shredded coconut
4oz finely chopped almonds
4oz peeled and finely shredded parsnip (or carrot) make sure to choose small, slender parsnips as they are sweeter than their larger counterparts.

Preheat oven to 350º

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon zest and salt until frothy.
2. Add in the coconut, almonds and shredded parsnip and stir well to combine. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to allow the sugar to melt and soften the coconut.
3. Set the bowl over a double boiler or in a skillet of simmering water and stir the mixture, making sure to get down to the bottom of the bowl. Cook until the mixture is very hot and the liquid in the bottom of the bowl has thickened and turned slightly opaque, 5-7min.
4. Using firm pressure, form the mixture into heaping tablespoon sized pyramids and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The mixture will be quite loose and it helps to wet your hands to form the cookies OR just use a cookie scoop. Slide the sheets into the oven and bake the cookies until they are deep golden brown on the edges, 20-25min. Make sure to bake them thoroughly, mine may have been a bit underdone.
5. Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment sheets, peel them off carefully and store at room temp, covered loosely for 3-4 days. As they age they will become softer and the lemon zest flavor more pronounced.

Saffron Vanilla Sugar Cookies

I like to keep the spice cabinet open while I cook dinner so I don't forget that I have a whole mess of things that can make my meals more interesting, but it's a dangerous mess in there. Every time I add something new I vow to clean and organize the damn thing. Maybe 2012 will be the year I do it; especially after the little episode that led to the making of these cookies. Let's just say the spice cabinet is above the sink, I pulled something out, turned away, and when I turned back there was an entire container of saffron floating in a bowl of (clean) water. Cue sad trombone. I fished out as much as I could with a tea strainer, switched gears and got to work making a very saffron heavy meal. Lemonade out of lemons, right? These cookies were inspired by the legendary Saffron Snickerdoodles sold by Blue Bottle Coffee Co., but as I was putting them in the oven I realized a handful of things that I should have done to make a more accurate representation. That said, these aren't much like the cookies from Blue Bottle, but they have crispy edges, soft centers and a really pleasing complex flavor.

Saffron Vanilla Sugar Cookies

2 3/4c flour
2t cream of tartar
3/4t baking soda
1/2t salt
8oz softened butter
1 1/2c plus 1/4c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
large pinch saffron threads

1. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
2. In a mortar and pestle, grind the saffron into a powder with a small pinch of sugar.
3. Add the saffron and vanilla bean seeds to the sugar and rub the mixture together with your fingers to distribute the seeds evenly.
4. Cream the sugar with the softened butter until very light and fluffy, about 5min. Add the eggs, one at a time, then slowly add in the flour mixture.
5. Form the cookies into 2T sized balls, place on a baking sheet in a single layer, cover and chill overnight. You can bake the cookies immediately if you like, but I find the cookies spread less after a night in the fridge which helps them have crisp edges and thick, soft middles.
6. When you are ready to bake, heat your oven to 400º. Roll the cookie balls in the remaining 1/4c sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it) and place them 2'' apart on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12min, rotating half way through the baking time. When they are done they will be very light golden on the edges.

Notes:

-My mom informed me that you shouldn't consume too much saffron at one sitting because it slows your heart rate, we all survived this time...
-Rumor has it that the Blue Bottle Cookbook will be out in 2012
-If you can't commit to using saffron in cookies (I understand) these cookies are a great base to add other flavors, try some citrus zest or spices.
-I might attempt these cookies again, using a different base recipe. I'll post my findings on the end of this one.

Gingerbread Cookie Clouds

If you follow me on facebook or twitter you may have noticed that I have been spending a bit of time away from APT 2B. There was just too much exciting stuff happening without me back home in Seattle so I decided to spend a nice chunk of time with my family and friends out west this holiday season. So here I am, in the great Northwest making wreaths and pine cone garland and chasing my parent's chickens around the back yard. It is glorious. I get to cook and bake for all of my favorite folks who I don't get to see too often and I have had lots of time to tackle some of my favorite holiday recipes. I usually make these gingerbread cookies to decorate the mantle in our apartment, but they are just as good for tea time. Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you all get to spend time with the folks you love most.

Gingerbread Cookies
from Simply Recipes
yield about 3dz, 3'' cookies

3 1/4c all-purpose flour
3/4t baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1T ground ginger
1T cinnamon
1/4t ground cloves
1/2t finely grated nutmeg
1/4t finely ground black pepper
1/2t salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the molasses.
3. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. You may need to use your hands to finish the mixing as the dough is quite stiff. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hr.

When you are ready to bake heat oven to 350°.

1. Place one half of the dough on a lightly floured board, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4'' thick if you prefer chewier cookies, 1/8'' thick if you prefer crunchy. Use a cookie cutter or stencil to cut out desired shapes. If you find the dough is too soft to cut into shapes, try refrigerating it on a sheet pan for a few minutes, then proceed to cut out your desired shapes.
2. Place the cut outs onto ungreased sheet pans or pans lined with silicone mats. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges have just barely begun to brown. Cool the cookies on the pans for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cook completely. Decorate as desired.

To Decorate

Royal Icing
from Simply Recipes
yield, enough to decorate about 3dz, 3'' cookies with lines and dots or about 1/2 that amount if you are filing in the cookies completely

1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. Combine all of the ingredients and beat with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer) until stiff peaks form. See this link over at Simply Recipes to learn how to cook this icing to make it safe for pregnant ladies, old folks and kids. I used the microwave method because I know my pregnant sister in law was going to eat these cookies and the icing turned out great.

Use a pastry bag fitted with a #2 or #3 round tip and the stiff icing to add lines, shapes and dots to your cookies. You can also use this icing to outline cookies you plan to flood completely, as I did with my clouds. To fill the clouds, simply dilute the icing with a few drops of water or lemon juice and fill in the outlines you've made. For more detailed instructions, I have linked to a video below.

Notes
- For detailed decorating instructions I have to defer to my girl Martha. I've linked to a video where Martha and Aisha Tyler decorate sugar cookies, but all of the techniques are the same. Fast forward about 1/2 way through to get to the decorating part.
- I've made the Martha Stewart gingerbread cookie recipe in the past, but I find that the one above makes for a chewier cookie due to the slightly higher fat to butter ratio. I also prefer this combination of spices which is a bit milder than Martha's.
- These make great cookie ornaments, just pierce a hole in the top of the cookies before baking, decorate and put them up on your tree (or mantle). Remember to bake the cookies thoroughly and the cookies will puff a bit so make sure to make the hole big enough to put a string through.
- I got my incredible, handmade cloud cookie cutter from Herriott Grace.

Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I can't believe it's been so long since we had any cookies around here. I admit, I got so caught up with delicious summer fruit and ice cream and preserves that I forgot how nice it is to have a little portable sweet treat lying around. These are the chewy centered, crispy edged variety of oatmeal cookies which just happen to be my personal favorite and I like to sprinkle them with a little salt before heading into the oven too. If sweet/salty isn't your thing feel free to skip the step, but if you've never tried it, give it a go with a cookie or two. They would make a great lunch box dessert if you have kiddos heading off to school this fall and after you tuck one or two in their lunch boxes you can eat a few for breakfast with your morning coffee. I mean, they're made of oatmeal right?

Oatmeal Chocoalte Cherry Cookies 
adapted from BAKED
yield 18 cookies
3/4c flour
1/2t baking soda
1/2t sea salt (plus a bit more to sprinkle on top of the cookies)
1/2t cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon from Penzey's that was super strong, so if you use another variety you may want a little more here)
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2c butter
3/4c brown sugar
1 egg
1t vanilla extract
1 1/2c rolled oats
1/2c chopped dried cherries
1/2c chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375ºF

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a bowl with a hand mixer) cream the butter and the sugars, then add the egg and mix until combined, then add the vanilla.
3. WIth the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Then remove the bowl from the mixer, add the oats, chocolate and cherries and stir them in by hand.
4. Divide the mixture into 18 even balls, I used a cookie scoop about the size of a generous tablespoon and place on two parchment lined cookie sheets. Gently press the cookies down to ensure they spread and sprinkle each one with a tiny bit of sea salt.
5. Slide the sheets into the oven and bake the cookies until lightly golden on the edges and soft in the middle, about 12min. Don't forget to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Cool the cookies on the sheets for a few minutes then remove them to a wire rack and try not to eat the whole batch all at once.

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for about 3 days.

We're Back, with Cookies!

Phew! The Apt 2B Shop had an incredible first holiday season, so incredible that it has taken me weeks to recover from the insanity of it all (just in time for Valentine's Day!). Luckily I have a wonderful family that helped me relax and enjoy the last bit of 2010. My lovely brother and his wife gifted me every.single.baking book. on my holiday wish list and I couldn't wait to crack open up Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain after reading so many wonderful reviews all over the place. This book is a great resource for folks, like me, who love the idea of baking with whole grains, but aren't quite sure where to start.

For my first go around I chose the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and I am so happy that I did. They are perfectly chewy, hearty, chocolatey, and my new favorite treat. I made the recipe to the letter and then I couldn't resist sprinkling a little vanilla sea salt on the top of each one.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces, or bittersweet chips
1T vanilla salt or sea salt for sprinkling

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. (If you have no parchment, you can butter the sheets.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to blend.
Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the bowl, and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and mix on low speed until evenly combined. (Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed.
Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. Transfer the cookies, still on parchment, to a rack to cool.

Rugelach with Cranberries, Pecans, and Apple Butter

It's time for another recipe don't you think? Thank you for all of your kind words about my shop. Keep checking back because I have some exciting announcements just around the bend, but for now let's talk cookies.

Rugelach are awesome for a lot of reasons, but my #1 favorite thing about them is that they taste like little bites of pie, and if you read the Dining Section of the NYTimes you know that pie is so hot right now. These cookies are made from a flaky cream cheese dough and can be filled with everything from apricot preserves and almonds to raspberry jam and chocolate chips, or any combo of dried fruit, nuts, and jam you have lying around. I'm a big fan of raspberry preserves with chopped walnuts and a bit of orange zest.

For this batch, I used some of my apple butter and upped the autumn ante and added dried cranberries and chopped pecans.

Dough
1 stick butter, cut into cubes
4 oz cream cheese, cut into cubish pieces
1 cup flour

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a ball forms. Alternately, mix 'em all together with your hands, just move quickly so the butter doesn't get melty.
Divide the dough in half, form 2 disks, wrap them in plastic and chill for 30 min.

Filling
1/4 cup apple butter (or any other jam)
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans (or any other nuts)
2T chopped, dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit or chocolate)

Topping
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup sugar+1T cinnamon, mixed together

To Assemble the cookies
Preheat oven to 350
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll one disk into a skinny rectangle, about 4''x12''
Spread 1/2 of the apple butter onto the dough in a thin layer, then sprinkle half of the pecans and cranberries onto the surface. Roll the whole mess into a long, skinny log
Brush the log with the beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar
Cut the log into 1-1 1/2'' pieces and place seam side down onto a parchment lined baking sheet
Repeat with other dough disk
Bake the cookies for about 20min, or until golden brown, don't worry if they slump and ooze a bit. The caramelized jammy parts are my favorite.

This recipe makes 20-24 pieces and they'll last a few days at room temp in a sealed container.

Brown Butter Cookies with Homemade Apple Butter

These little beauties are too cute for words and extremely tasty to boot. It really is too bad that they won't make the cut for apt. 2b baking co.'s official menu (they are a bit fragile), but that doesn't mean that you can't make them at home. Do yourself a solid and eat them with cinnamon ice cream and a nice pour of bourbon.

Brown Butter Cookies adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade)
1T bourbon (optional)
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Brown the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan, stirring frequently until the milk solids turn light brown and the butter has a nutty fragrance. Transfer butter to bowl and chill until firm, about an hour.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and bourbon, then add flour, cinnamon and salt. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic. Chill until cool, but not hard, about 45min.
3. Heat oven to 350. Unwrap dough and gently roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut dough into desired shapes (I used a 1 1/2 inch round cutter) and bake on parchment lined baking sheets until lightly browned. The warm cookies are quite fragile and it is best not to move them until they have cooled a bit.

Once cookies have cooled completely fill 1/2 of them with Homemade Apple Butter, other jam of choice, or even chocolate if you are feeling wild and top with the remaining cookies. Fill the cookies up to 1 hour before you plan to eat them, any earlier and they may get a bit soft.

Bonus Idea: Use the cookies and apple butter as a mix in for homemade ice cream. Delicious!

Apple Butter (A great first canning project)

4lbs good eatin' apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite sized pieces (I like to use mutsu, macintosh, and gala, but you can use whatever you like)
3-4 cups apple cider
1 1/2-2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
Juice of one lemon

Prepare your jars and lids by washing them thoroughly with soap and water. Place jars in a warm oven (about 200) and place lids on a clean towel to dry completely. You can also wash your jars on the top rack of your dishwasher and leave them in there until you are ready for them.
To make the apple butter

1. In your biggest, heaviest pot (I use a dutch oven) combine the apples and enough cider to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook the apples until tender. A but of foam will form on the surface that should be skimmed off, it's okay if you can't get it all.
2. When the apples are tender, remove the pot from the heat and puree the mixture until it is smooth (an immersion blender is the best tool for this). Stir in sugar, spices and lemon juice.
3. Cook the mixture at about 220 degrees (simmering) until it darkens in color and begins to pop and bubble in a lava like fashion, about 1-1 1/2 hours. Ladle the lava into your prepared jars, clean the rims with a dry paper towel and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the jars from the hot water bath with tongs and listen for the tell tale pop that means your jars are sealed and safe to be stored in a cool dry spot.