When I first got serious into baking, I relied mainly on Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking from my home to yours. I am proud to announce that my copy of this thick, heavy and educative book is torn, tattered and smells like stale butter now.
I really learnt a lot from her through the book and so when I read that she had partnered with her son, Joshua Greenspan to set up a little cookie store named Buerre & Sel sometime in late 2012, I became jealous of those who made it to the store.
One of their most popular cookies were the jammers. A perfect round flaky sable with a rim of buttery crumble that lace around a pool of glistening jam. So when I found the recipe for these jammers here, I thanked God profusely.
The result of the cookie was exactly how I had imagined it to be and I am soooo glad. It was deliciously buttery, soft yet with a nice crunch, and the jam which got even more jammy and intensely flavourful after been baked, adds a really nice fruity balance to the luxurious butter shortbread.
The good thing about the recipe is, you don’t need a custom-made cookie ring which Buerre & Sel used to achieve their signature round shape because the same can be achieved by just using your regular muffin pan.
About a year after the opening, I read that Buerre & Sel has ceased their business. Though not sure of the reason but thank God we have this recipe and could still enjoy the HIGHLY ADDICTIVE cookies.
Notes
- The original recipe for the crumble was not enough for 34 cookies. I doubled the batch and it was just nice. Measurements given here for the streusel has been doubled.
- The dough for the sable needs to be frozen at the point when you stamp them out to place in your muffin pan. Defrosted dough will be very soft and almost impossible to handle. So you have to work fast here to ensure the dough is still frozen and manageable.
- There is no need to butter the muffin pan. The butter from the dough and crumble will melt while baking and your cookies can be easily removed from the pan.
- Use the best butter and jam you can get for this recipe. It makes a difference.
Buerre & Sel Jammers
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 34 irresistible cookies
Ingredients for the cookie dough
226 grams unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Ingredients for streusel and assembly
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
156 grams unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 to 1 cup thick jam (I used blackberry jam, but any jam or marmalade will be good)
Method for cookie dough
- Place butter in the bowl of the stand mixer and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Add the sugar and salt, beat for another 2 minutes until mixture is pale.
- On low speed now, beat in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until just combine.
- Add in the flour and mix until just combine. Dough will be sticky and soft and that’s ok.
- Divide dough in half. Place each dough between sheets of parchment, waxed paper or cut-opened freezer plastic bags. Form dough into rough round balls, then flatten into disks.
- Roll out each disk to about 1/4 inch thick. Place the rolled out dough with the paper or plastics on a sheet pan and freeze for at least 2 hours. Cookie dough can be made 2 days ahead. Just cover and keep frozen.
Method for the streusel
- Place flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub in the cold butter and vanilla with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs and no large lumps remain. Streusel should be sandy and hold its shape when pressed between your fingers.
- Cover and chill. Streusel can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
Assembly and bake
- Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350F / 175C.
- Using a 2.5 inches round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of the frozen dough from the freezer. Place rounds in bottom of muffin cups and gently pat to flatten. Continue cutting the frozen dough into rounds, gather scraps and repeat process of rolling out. You should be able to make about 34 rounds.
- Cover muffin pan with foil and chill in freezer until dough is firm, about 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoon of jam into the centre of each round dough, using a small spoon or your fingers, sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons streusel around the edges of each cookie, try not to cross into the jam.
- Bake cookies until sides and streusel are golden, about 20 to 22 minutes. Cool in tins for 15 minutes. Gently remove cookies and cool completely on a wire rack.
Store in airtight container for up to 2 days. I am not sure how the cookie would turn out on the 2nd day because we finished everything on the 1st day. This may sound crazy but I am quite sure you might do the same.
