These cookies have been passed down for generations. Truth be told, my grandmother used to call these "Prune Cookies." In my experience, folks tend to stick their nose up at "prunes." But rebrand them to "plums" and now you've really got something!
Regardless of what you call them, they're delicious. Trust me. Hell, I even gobbled these up as a kid, despite the use of the word "prune." Delicate, subtly lemon shortbread cookies are sandwiched together with plum butter and showered with powdered sugar.
My grandmother used to stamp out larger 3in cookies. And that is perfectly fine. But I find a smaller, bite-sized cookie to be a better addition to my Christmas cookie platter. Cause of course, you'll want to try every cookie on the tray!
My grandmother used to find Plum Butter (often called prune butter) on the grocery store shelves. Kudos, Grandma, but I simply can't seem to find it. Perhaps in my old age the grocery stores will finally cough it up. So for lack of a store-bought alternative, I've made my own! It's easy to do, and keeps well in a jar in the fridge.
If I still haven't convinced you on the Sugar Plums... nix the Plum Butter, and swap for apricot or raspberry preserves.
Sugar Plums
Ingredients
For the plum butter (yields 1 cup)
· 1 cup pitted prunes
· 1/2 cup water
· 3 tbsp orange juice
· 1/2 tsp orange zest
· pinch of salt
· 3 tbsp brown sugar
For the cookies
· 1/2 stick butter, softened
· 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
· 2 egg yolks
· 1 tsp lemon zest
· 1 cup flour
· 1/4 cup plum butter
· 1/3 cup powdered sugar
For the Plum Butter…
In a small sauce pan, combine everything but the brown sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cook of medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until majority of the liquid has evaporated. Stir periodically to ensure the mixture does not burn. Over low heat, add the sugar and mix until dissolved. Remove from heat and blend until smooth using an immersion blender. Chill for about 1 hour before serving.
For the cookies…
Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Scrape down the blow and beat in the egg yolks and zest. On low speed, add the flour. Blend until a dough ball forms. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form a disk. Chill for about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Flour a working surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4in thick - you want these cookies to be fairly thin. Using a 1in round cutter, cut out the cookies. Place the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet - no need to leave much space between the cookies as they will not spread greatly. Bake for about 12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are just pale golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool completely. Spread the plum butter over half of the cookies and top with another cookie. Dust the tops of the cookie sandwiches with powdered sugar.
Makes 16 sandwich cookies
Notes
In some grocery stores you can find plum (prune) butter. If you’re having trouble tracking it down, I recommend making some from scratch. It’s simple!
I think the one-two bite cookie concept is fun, especially around the holidays when you want to try ALL the cookies, but of course, scale up the cutter to make a more sizable sandwich
Gluten Free Friendly!
Use a gluten free flour blend. For this recipe, I prefer Cup4Cup or Better Batter.
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