These are dream cookies…literally. They came to me in a dream in Paris, the city of sweets. The base is a French shortbread, or sablé, flavored with honey and loose tea. If you have 2-inch baking rings, you can make the cookies in the rings on lined baking sheets instead of using muffin tins. Build the cookies inside the rings, bake, then leave the rings in place for at least 20 minutes before lifting them off, rinsing and reusing. Adapted from Dorie's Cookies.
Every December 31st, the dessert wizard invites a hodgepodge group of old and new friends for a perfect French fête, complete with oysters, gougères, and huge bottles of champagne by the Seine
Featured in: How Dorie Greenspan Does New Year’s Eve in Paris
Ingredients
For the sablés and jam
- 1⁄3 cup cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. loose leaf green, black, or rose tea
- 9 tbsp. (4 1/2 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
- 1⁄2 tsp. fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 3 tbsp. honey
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1⁄3 cup thick strawberry jam
For the streusel
- 3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1⁄4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1⁄4 tsp. fine sea salt
- 5 1⁄2 tbsp. (2 3/4 oz.) cold unsalted butter, finely diced
- 1⁄2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Step 1
Make the sablés: In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, rub together the sugar and tea until fragrant. Add the butter and salt, and using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until smooth, 3 minutes. Add the honey and vanilla and beat, scraping the bowl as needed, 2 minutes. Beat in the yolk on low speed. Turn off the motor, add the flour, then mix on low speed, scraping the bowl as needed, until just incorporated.
Step 2
Divide the dough in two and shape each half into a disk. Working one at a time, sandwich the disks between sheets of parchment and roll to 1⁄4 inch thick. Slide the doughs and parchment paper onto a baking sheet (you can stack them) and freeze at least 1 hour or chill for 2 hours. (Dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 months or refrigerated up to 2 days.)
Step 3
Make the streusel: Meanwhile, in the clean bowl of the stand mixer, or by hand, whisk the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt briefly to combine. Add the butter and toss to coat. Fit the bowl with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low until moist, clumpy crumbs form and streusel holds together when pinched, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle on the vanilla and mix until blended. Cover and chill at least 1 hour but preferably 4 hours. Streusel can be made and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or frozen up to 2 months (thaw in the refrigerator).
Step 4
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350°. Grease 2 muffin tins (or use nonstick). Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel away both sheets of parchment paper and put the dough back on one sheet. Cut the dough using a 2-inch round cookie cutter and place the rounds in the muffin tin. Don't worry if the dough doesn't yet completely fill the molds.
Step 5
Place 1⁄2 tsp. jam in the center of each cookie. Sprinkle streusel around the edges (avoid covering the jam).
Step 6
Bake, rotating the tins once, until the streusel is golden brown, 20–22 minutes (jam may be bubbly). Remove; let rest for 15 minutes before transfering cookies to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with any remaining dough, using cool tins. Cover and store at room temperature up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
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