One Ring To Rule Them All

Nobody knows exactly where it came from.

I thought we got it out of a cereal box.  My oldest daughter says it just showed up one day in a kitchen drawer.

The ‘it’ that I’m referring to is a replica Lord of the Rings ring, complete with elvish handwriting. 

However the ring arrived, it seems reluctant to depart.  We keep losing it, and it keeps finding its way back to us.  Most recently it was missing for a year.  But when the girls were packing for camp this summer, the One Ring slipped out of a suitcase that has been used at least twice since it was last seen.  Other than the fact that the gold has slightly tarnished over the years, it remains unchanged in any way.

It doesn’t seem to possess any other magical powers.  I can slip it over my finger without disappearing or, to the best of my knowledge, attracting the attention of Sauron. 

This recipe attracted my attention when I was looking for more recipes to use up my accumulated jams and preserves.  Although making Ring Cookies requires a few steps, they aren’t difficult, and the result is delicious.  Believe me, this is one case where you won’t mind at all being ruled by a ring.

Ring Cookies (aka Cookie bar Jammers)

Recipe from Lottie and Doof, and inspired by Dorie Greenspan)

Sablé Dough (from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup confectioners’ (icing) sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp salt

2 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and very creamy.  Add sugar and icing sugar and beat for a minute.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in two egg yolks and vanilla.

Pour in the flour (one cup at a time) and stir with a spoon until completely mixed. 

Brown Sugar Streusel

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

pinch of ground cinnamon

Melt butter in a small saucepan on stove.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir with a fork to form crumbs.  Cover and set aside until ready to use.

Assembling and baking the cookies:

You need one recipe of Sablé Cookie dough, one recipe of streusel, and some jam or preserves (I used strawberry jam and apple butter).

You also need a set of ring molds to shape and bake the cookies in.  (If you don’t have ring molds, just use round cookie cutters to shape the cookies and bake them free-form.  The cookies won’t be as symmetrical, but they’ll still taste great.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Roll dough to about 1/3” thick.  Use ring molds to stamp out cookies.  (I got about a dozen.)  Transfer the dough and rings to prepared cookie sheet, then chill in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough firms up. 

Top each cookie with 2 tsp jam or preserves, followed by 2 tsp of streusel.  Bake for 16 – 18 minutes, or until golden.  Remove from oven and let cool 5 – 10 minutes before removing the ring molds.