By Late August. The apartment kitchen has been on a small careful experiment-with-recipe-box rhythm across the past four Sundays. Mama and I have been splitting the Carol-recipe-box collaboration project since the move: I take the cards Mama mails me one at a time and cook through them here, and we compare notes on the Wednesday phone call. The card Mama had mailed two weeks ago was a 1986 almond-butter-maple-cream gingersnap sandwich cookie card that Mama said Carol had made for the holidays through the 1980s and that Mama had not made since Carol passed in 2010.
Sunday I made the gingersnap sandwich cookies. The cookies: crunchy molasses-and-ginger gingersnap cookies as the sandwich shell, plus a maple-almond-butter cream filling between them. The molasses-ginger-cinnamon-cloves dough yields about thirty-six cookies per batch. The filling is a half-cup of almond butter, a quarter-cup of pure maple syrup, two tablespoons of softened butter, a pinch of salt, whipped into a cream that holds its shape on the spreading knife. Sandwich the cookies in pairs.
Eighteen finished sandwich cookies Sunday afternoon. Six to Dustin and me at the kitchen table. Eight into the freezer in a zip-top freezer bag. Four packed in a small tin to drive over to Mama’s Wednesday after my shift — Carol’s recipe back at Carol’s daughter’s kitchen for the first time in ten years.
Almond Butter Maple Cream Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies
Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 37 min (plus 20 min cooling) | Servings: 18 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
- For the gingersnap cookies:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- For the almond butter maple cream filling:
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine salt
Instructions
- Preheat & prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour about 1/4 cup granulated sugar into a shallow bowl and set aside for rolling.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and 1 cup granulated sugar with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla extract, and beat until fully combined.
- Combine and chill. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until a dough forms. If the dough feels very soft, refrigerate for 15 minutes to make it easier to handle.
- Roll and bake. Scoop dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon each). Roll each ball in the reserved granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are just beginning to crack. Do not overbake — they firm up as they cool.
- Cool completely. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before filling — at least 20 minutes.
- Make the filling. Beat almond butter and softened butter together until smooth. Add powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat on medium speed until the filling is fluffy and spreadable, about 2 minutes. If it’s too stiff, add maple syrup one teaspoon at a time.
- Assemble. Match cookies into pairs of similar size. Spread or pipe about 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling onto the flat side of one cookie and press the second cookie gently on top. Repeat with remaining cookies.
- Serve or store. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before serving for the best texture.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 39g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 115mg