Day 11 … PBJ Sandwich Cookies

Who doesn’t love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on occasion? I mean, really. The salty peanut butter combined with the sweet, fruity jam? It’s a perfect combination and even better as a cookie. Two crisp peanutty cookies sandwiching a fruit filling, preferably grape but strawberry works too. That’s what we’ve got today as our 11^th cookie.

The basic dough, with a bunch of extra stuff thrown in, comes together very easily like all these recipes. Then have to hustle – dough is best rolled out warm but cut cold. I’ve never understood recipes that instruct you to make the dough then refrigerate it in a big blob to roll later. That is damn near impossible, so roll when it’s freshly made and soft. So much easier.

By the same train of thought, a chilled dough cuts easier and cleaner. The shapes are sharper and it’s far easier to transfer a cold cutout without any distortion. Ever try to transfer a detailed cutout or even a simple gingerbread man when it’s warm from your rolling surface to the baking sheet? Wonky city. Cutting cold seems like a no brainer to me.

A short bake until the cookies are nice and crisp is next, then a little jam and a gentle press to make some sandwiches. In no time and with a minimal amount of effort, you’ve got a classic on your hands.

One more thing to note: resist the urge to use “natural” style peanut butter. This is the place for your Skippy, Jif or Peter Pan. No joke. You try to go all “healthy” with that oil on the top peanut butter and weird things start to happen. It just doesn’t work. Must be all the emulsifiers and unpronounceable stuff that keep this dough together. Try not to think too hard about it.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: CHILDHOOD DREAMS. It’s the lunchbox staple transformed into a holiday cookie though I would have liked this version far better. So now is the time to bust out the fancy fluted cutters if you have them. Making the cookie pretty is a nice touch too but if you don’t have cutters, that’s ok. Get the ruler and pizza cutter out and knock out some neat, little squares. You have to be precise as the two cookies sandwiched together should be the same size but it works. I’ve done it.

2016 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup: Butter Rum Bars, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Coconut Lime Sticks, Cranberry Pistacho Coins, Dark Chocolate Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Hazelnut Buttons, Jam Thumbprints, Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Pecan Triangles, Peppermint Crisps, Rosemary Apricot Shortbread, Russian Tea Cakes

2017 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup to date:
Basic Butter Cookie Dough + planning tips
Day 1 – Cream Cheese Wreaths
Day 2 – Raspberry Linzer Bars
Day 3 – Lemon Poppyseed Buttons
Day 4 – Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers
Day 5 – Mexican Wedding Cookies
Day 6 – Orange Sandwich Cookies
Day 7 – Raspberry Chocolate Drops
Day 8 – Blueberry Lime Buttons
Day 9 – Cardamom Rose Coins
Day 10 – Banana Walnut Bars

PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY SANDWICH COOKIES
I know the egg white called for in this recipe is wonky. 1 Tablespoon? I know, I know. When I started calculating the different batch sizes, it’s just how it worked out. I tried leaving it out and the cookies were far too delicate – the protein in the white really helps hold it all together. And I tried using the whole white too – the texture was odd and I didn’t like. So just do it. The cookie is better for it. To make it easier to measure a small amount, lightly beat the white with a fork to loosen. To make it even easier, use a scale.

Butter cookie dough – recipe here

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2-3 sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the room temperature cookie dough, peanut butter, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and egg white. Mix on medium-low until completely blended.
3. Divide the dough into manageable pieces and roll into a thin even layer, about 1/8” thick, between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap.
4. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. (If refrigerating longer, wrap tightly with plastic wrap to prevent the edges from drying out.)
5. With a 2” cutter (round or square), cut out shapes and place on the prepared sheet pans 1” apart.
6. Gather the scraps and reroll/cut, refrigerating if the dough becomes too soft.
7. Bake the cookies until golden brown and crisp, about 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
8. Let cool completely.
9. To fill, spoon 1-2 teaspoons of jelly on one side of one cookie, top with another and press gently to adhere. The cookies are best consumed, once assembled, within 3 days.
10. Do ahead: you can freeze the dough at various stages up to 2 months – the dough itself, the rolled out sheets, or the cut cookies with a double layer of parchment between the cookies.