I got this recipe years ago from Gourmet Magazine. It is simple to make, but a pain in the neck. Worth it? Absolutely. You can't bang out 100 cookies in 20 minutes with this one. You have to brown butter, which becomes easier once you do it a couple of times and you know what you are looking for. When you make the dough, you have to let it sit for a while to age before you proceed. But you can't refrigerate it. You must shape each half of the cookie inside the bowl of a spoon-and the dough is crumbly as all get-out. Once the cookie is baked, you then have to heat preserves (of course I prefer to use a mixture of cherry and strawberry), and put them through a sieve to remove the solids. Then you assemble-the preserves make the cookie a bit slippery and you have to watch that they stay together while they set up. THEN you should wait a few days for the flavors to blend before you eat them. You go through all this trouble for 30 cookies. I still make them a couple of times a year. I triple the recipe for Christmas, and I must admit I hate spoon cookie day in December. Yet I continue to make them, and their followers anxiously await their delivery.

Spoon Cookies

Gourmet | December 2005

Adapted from Celia Barbour

2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt, slightly rounded
1/3 cup fruit preserves (your choice)

Special equipment: a deep-bowled teaspoon (not a measuring spoon)

Make dough:

Fill kitchen sink with about 2 inches of cold water. Melt butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter turns golden with a nutlike fragrance and flecks on bottom of pan turn a rich caramel brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (Butter will initially foam, then dissipate. A thicker foam will appear and cover the surface just before butter begins to brown; stir more frequently toward end of cooking.) Place pan in sink to stop cooking, then cool, stirring frequently, until butter starts to look opaque, about 4 minutes. Remove pan from sink and stir in sugar and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and stir into butter mixture until a dough forms. Shape into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and let stand at cool room temperature 1 to 2 hours (to allow flavors to develop).

Form and bake cookies:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.

Press a piece of dough into bowl of teaspoon, flattening top, then slide out and place, flat side down, on an ungreased baking sheet. (Dough will feel crumbly, but will become cohesive when pressed.) Continue forming cookies and arranging on sheet. Bake cookies until just pale golden, 8 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheet on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Assemble cookies:

While cookies cool, heat preserves in a small saucepan over low heat until just runny, then pour through a sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on solids, and cool completely.

Spread the flat side of a cookie with a thin layer of preserves. Sandwich with flat side of another cookie. Continue with remaining cookies and preserves, then let stand until set, about 45 minutes. Transfer cookies to an airtight container and wait 2 days before eating.

Baked French Toast

I have been making this recipe for years. It's my go-to for brunch, as you prepare it the night before. It feeds an army, and you can change it up-add cinnamon, raisins, fruit, use challah or raisin bread. It tastes great microwaved as leftovers too.

Baked French Toast, Angel of the Sea, Cape May, NJ

Ingredients

1 loaf firm bread

8 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup maple syrup

10 eggs

1-1/2 cups half & half

8 Tablespoons melted butter

Cube bread and layer half in a 13 x 9-inch pan. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and scatter it across the bread. Cover with remaining bread cubes. Mix the eggs, half & half, syrup, and melted butter together. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Press the bread cubes down to absorb the mixture. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve with syrup, jelly, or powdered sugar.

Serves: 6

Notes: It feeds more than 6, unless they are ravenous. I have found that it requires more than one loaf of bread if you are using Pepperidge Farm or the like. It puffs up in the pan-make sure your pan is deep, and use a sheet pan underneath just in case.