By: Robin Kurss

My Grandma Esther lived in Miami Beach in her later years. She lived a block away from Pumpernick’s, which was a fantastic Jewish restaurant and bakery. When you walked in, there were cases and cases of delicious deli foods and baked goods. There were huge rugelach and hamantaschen, cheesecakes and layer cakes and pies galore, but the cookies were spectacular. When she would come home to visit and live with us for the summer, a 2 lb. box of cookies came along with her. My favorite were these…..

Makes 3 Dozen Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup raspberry or apricot jam
• 1 cup sprinkles
• 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Make the cookies: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the butter and sugar until well blended and light. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt, and beat to combine. Scrape down the bowl and beaters. Add the flour and mix just until the flour disappears. Fit a piping bag with a medium (approximately 1/2-inch opening) French star tip or you can use a large plastic bag with the corner snipped off.

Pipe the dough into about 1/2-inch-wide, 1 3/4-to-2-inch-long segments, spaced about 1 inch apart, on your baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they are golden at the edges. Let the cookies cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Assemble: Meanwhile, place your jam in a sandwich bag. Place the sprinkles on plates with rims or in shallow bowls. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or in a small saucepan until they’re three-quarters melted, then stir to melt the rest. (This will keep the chocolate from burning or overheating.) Place the melted chocolate in a bowl with a good depth for dipping. Line two large baking sheets with parchment, or just use the cookie trays you baked on, wiping off any excess crumbs.

Once the cookies are completely cool, flip half of them over, to become the bottom half of your sandwiches. Snip a little corner off your jam bag and squeeze a little down the center of each flipped cookie, but not so much that it will squeeze out when sandwiched. Sandwich with the other half of the cookies. Dip each a third to half of the way into the chocolate and let it drip off, wiping away any excess. Roll the cookies in sprinkles, then return them to the baking sheets to set. You can pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes to hasten this process along.

These freeze well and keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a week…if they last that long!