"Jammers" - Giant Streusel Jam Cookies

Sometimes I'll see a recipe in a magazine and it will inspire me to create a certain dish. Sometimes I'll flip through a cookbook looking for inspiration. Often I come across recipes on other food blogs that I either follow or modify for my needs. But for this recipe, all I needed was one photo to convince me to make them. I spotted one image of these cookies, and I was sold.

I spotted this photo over on SeriousEats a couple weeks ago, which led me to the website of Lottie and Doof, and her attempt to remake a cookie from Dorie Greenspan's cookie bar this past summer called 'jammers.'

The basic idea is a cookie dough crust, topped with a dollop of jam and a sprinkle of brown sugar streusel. Genius idea - somewhere between a very sturdy cookie and a mini tart. Not revolutionary per se, but it is one of those things that makes you wonder why you haven't thought of it before.

The question is then - what do you bake them in? The original blog post posed either a whoopie pie pan or 3-inch ring molds, neither of which I own, or have ever owned. (I didn't even know a whoopie pie pan existed. I just baked them on baking sheets!) The obvious thought that comes to mind is a muffin pan - which would produce slightly smaller cookies than originally envisioned. Of course, in my current semi-homeless state, I don't have one of those either, but I did find individual foil cups in the grocery store that are about 2" across. A compromise!

Mine aren't quite as sturdy as the original, because I wanted to make more cookies without making more dough - I got about 18 out of this, with slightly thinner base than intended.

Recipe: (adapted lightly from Lottie and Doof, which was adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
Base:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour

Streusel: 
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Beat the butter, sugars and salt together until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour until just combined.
Pull the dough out of the bowl, knead in any remaining flour streaks gently, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.


For the streusel, melt the butter, then add the flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon and stir with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

Divide the dough between small ramekins, muffin cups, or ring molds, I used 2" individual baking cups and pressed the dough in to the bottom, you can also roll out the dough and cut circles to fit in the base of your dishes. You are aiming for about a 1/2" thick base.

Top the base with 1-2 teaspoons oft eh jam of your choice and sprinkle with the streusel.
Bake on 350 F for 18 to 22 minutes until golden brown.
Cool for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from the molds and cooling completely.