Spoon Filled Cookies, Sarah Grossman

SPOON-FILLED COOKIES

Instructions continued:

To shape and bake the cookies: 4. Set an oven rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 325°F. 5. Choose a teaspoon with a deep bowl. (older spoons in general have nice deep bowls. Do not use a measuring spoon.) Pinch off a small bit of dough from one of the balls and press it into the bowl of the spoon, flattening the top. The dough will feel crumbly, but as you press and mold it, it will become cohesive. Pressing gently, slide the shaped dough out of the spoon and place it, flat side down, on an ungreased baking sheet. (I lined mine with a silicon liner for easy clean-up.) Continue forming cookies and arranging them on the sheet pan; you should be able to fit about 18 cookies. Bake the cookies until just pale golden, about 8 to 15 minutes. Cool them on the sheet pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes; then transfer them to the rack and cool completely. Meanwhile, continue shaping and baking more cookies until all the dough is gone. You should be able to make about 60 to 70 cookies in all. To assemble the cookies: 6. While the cookies cool, heat the preserves in a small saucepan over low heat until just runny. Pour and scrape through a sieve into a small bowl to remove seeds and solids. Cool completely. (I stuck mine in the fridge for a few minutes.) 7. Working with one cookie at a time, spread the flat side with a thin layer of preserves. Sandwich with the flat side of a second cookie. Continue with the remaining cookies and preserves. Let the finished cookies stand until the jam is set, about 45 minutes. 8. Transfer cookies to an airtight container and wait 2 days – really! – before eating to allow the flavor to develop. (Or, if making them well in advance, freeze them.)

Yield: 30-35 sandwich cookies

Instructions:

1. Place milk in small bowl. (It should be about 110°F.) Sprinkle yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar over milk. Set aside until frothy, about 10 minutes. 2. Stir (or use a whisk) remaining sugar with egg and egg yolk. Add sour cream, salt, vanilla, orange zest and yeast mixture, and mix well. Gradually add flour. Stir until dough is soft, smooth and elastic, adding up to 3 additional tablespoons of flour (no more!) if dough seems very sticky.

Dough will be somewhat sticky, but will firm up in refrigerator. It will take 5-10 minutes of solid beating to get the dough to the right texture. If you have a good stand mixer, you can use the paddle attachment instead.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. 3. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds, placing them on a flour-dusted parchment-lined baking sheet. Reroll scraps and cut again. Let rise in a warm place 30 minutes. 4. In a heavy pot, heat 3 inches of oil to 350-365° F. (If you don’t have a thermometer, test with a small piece of dough—it should brown on the bottom in 30 seconds.) Don’t let it get too hot, or the doughnuts will burn before cooking through. While oil is heating, prep some paper towels on a rack or baking sheet. Working in batches, fry doughnuts until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels and sift powdered sugar over each batch while still hot. Let oil come back to temperature degrees between batches. 5. If you have a pastry bag, fit with a long round tip and fill bag. When doughnuts are cool enough to handle (but still warm), use tip of bag to make a hole in one side of doughnut, and squeeze some filling into hole—enough that the doughnut is slightly heavier, but not so much that it explodes or oozes back out. Maybe 1/2-1 tablespoon? • Alternate method: If you don’t have a pastry bag, fill up a plastic freezer bag and cut a small tip off of one corner. Use a chopstick or knife to poke a hole in the doughnut, stick the open corner of the bag into the hole, and squeeze the filling through that. 6. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and serve immediately. Dust again with powdered sugar.