This baking season, we implore you to add an exciting new cookie to your winter repertoire. This surprisingly doable sandwich cookie riffs on the classic combo of peanut butter and jelly, elevated with pecans and raspberry preserves. The result is a snacky bite that's immediately habit-forming.
The stunning dessert comes from iconic baker Susan Spungen, who just penned the cookbook Cookie Queen. "I decided to borrow my good friend Claudia Fleming’s Pecan Sandies recipe for this very classic cookie, but I’ve streamlined it so it’s all made in a food processor, rather than grinding the nuts in the food processor and then switching to a stand mixer," Spungen writes. "I love the flavor of raspberry here, but you can use any preserves or jam you like, or even a variety within the batch." Strawberry, apricot, or blueberry preserves would all make for stellar swaps.
Craving variety? Spungen provides instructions for an alternative cookie: "To make a second type of cookie with the same dough, you can take the scraps of dough, and instead of rerolling them to make more sandwiches, you can roll them into 20-g balls to make Mexican wedding cakes, aka snowballs. Bake them for 13 to 15 minutes at 350°F and dust them with confectioners’ sugar as they cool."
Jammy Sandies
Author: Susan Spungen
Prep Time: 32 min
Cook Time: 31 min
Calories: 190 calories per serving
Servings: 18 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans (100 g)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (256 g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (226 g)
- ⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar (82 g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (25 g)
- ½ cup raspberry preserves (150 g)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread out the pecans on a small rimmed baking sheet and toast for 10 to 13 minutes, until well browned, stirring once or twice. Transfer to a plate to cool completely. Turn off the oven.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the nuts with ¼ cup (32 g) of the flour and pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
- Combine the remaining 1¾ cups (224 g) flour, the salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Cut the butter into large blobs (it should be pretty soft) and add to the food processor along with the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Pulse until well mixed and no bits of butter are visible, scraping once or twice.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and pulse until everything is well mixed.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead a few times, and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Flatten into a disc and chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days ahead of time.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
- Place the dough on a floured sheet of parchment paper, lightly flour the top, and roll out to a thickness of ¼ inch, carefully turning over the dough to keep both sides lightly floured and smooth as you roll. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and chill until firm, 15 to 30 minutes.
- Use a 1-inch fluted round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart and use a small fork to prick the cookies. If you don’t have a small enough fork, use a skewer or toothpick. This is mostly decorative, so if you don’t want to take the time to do it, just skip it. Chill again until firm.
- Sprinkle with the granulated sugar and bake for about 18 minutes, switching the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time, until pale golden all over. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
- Dab a cookie with about ¼ teaspoon of preserves and top with another cookie. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Let them set up for a while. The cookies will soften slightly as they sit. Store in airtight containers at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or freeze for 2 to 3 months.
GLUTEN FREE
Swap gluten-free flour for all-purpose flour.
Excerpted from Cookie Queen by Susan Spungen Copyright © 2026 by Susan Spungen. Excerpted by permission of Rodale Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
