salt + pepper chocolate sandwich cookies with strawberry jam

During these bitterly cold and blustery winter days, I like to indulge. Spring is still a watercoloured, half-remembered dream. It's so easy and softly tempting to toss wrinkled thoughts of strappy sandals and swimsuits on the shelf and simply listen to the windswept siren's call of indulgence. My happy undoing usually comes in the form of a creamy soup, an all-butter encrusted pie, a ridiculously-rich layer cake, cured roasted meats, salty-sweet brownies, and cookies. Always cookies...my true North in stormy weather.

Some things are reticent about their health benefits - whilst not exactly "healthy" healthy, they induce a subtle form of smug contentment; sleeping until 11am, calling in sick (when you're not really sick), holding up traffic for indecisive squirrels, staying up until 3am to watch a scary movie (masochistic ambiance!), and sandwich cookies.

You will need both hands to enjoy these cookies. They fall apart after one bite, leaving sticky evidence on your chin and fingertips. Precious, yes. Dramatic, absolutely. Sheer. Bliss.

Please don't let the "pepper" in the title deter you from trying this recipe, its presence is really more of an afterthought...a smoldering heat in the back of your throat. The chocolate stands out the most, followed by peppy fleur de sel. Originally I was going to fill the cookies with a vanilla buttercream, but the unopened jar of strawberry-white pepper jam had other plans.

Feel free to fill these cookies with anything you have on hand. If you roll them out properly (at least 1/4-inch thick), they will retain a pleasant softness, not quite chewy, but still highly addictive + strange weather worthy.

Salt-N-Pepper Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Jam
makes about 20-30 sandwiches- depending on cookie cutter size

for the cookies
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
2 teaspoons white pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (that's 3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, melted

for the filling
about 3/4 cup of your favourite jam


method
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, fleur de sel, white pepper, and cocoa powder; Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on med. speed until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating for about one minute after each addition. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate- beat on medium speed until the dough is uniform in colour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and beat for another 20 seconds.

Add about half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed for about 15 seconds- just long enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Your stand mixer may dance around the counter. :D

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into two balls, and wrap each ball tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Remove one ball of dough from the fridge and divide it into two equal portions. Place one on a lightly floured surface (return the other to the refrigerator). Use your hands to knead the dough until it's pliable. {Note: If the dough is too stiff to work with, leave it at room temperature until it softens enough to roll out smoothly.} Roll the dough into a 1/4-inch thick circle- flouring the surface and rolling pin as needed if the dough gets too sticky. Use your preferred cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible. {Note: I used 3-inch cutters of various shapes- feel free to use 2 or 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters too.) If desired, use the wide end of a pastry tip to cut out holes in the center of half the cookies. Gather the scrapes and chill while you roll out the remaining dough- the scraps can be re-rolled but they may not be as pretty as the first round.

Place the cut-out cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch of space between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheets half-way through the baking time. The cookies are done when the tops look dry (and possibly cracked). Remove the sheets from the oven and onto a cooling rack. {Note: If some of the cookies puffed up in the oven, use your fingers to gently press down on the puffs...be sure to do this whilst the cookies are still warm.} Allow the cookies to rest on the sheets for about 8 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding the filling.

for the filling
Place the jam into a small saucepan. Stirring constantly, cook the jam over low heat- just until it softens. Remove from the heat and allow it cool for about 10 minutes. Dollop a spoonful onto half the cookies-cover with the remaining cookies and gently press down to spread the jam. Allow the cookies to set for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

adapted from Baked Explorations