Oatmeal-Ginger Sandwiches
These crisp, delicate cookies— adapted from award-winning baking teacher and author Nick Malgieri—are the ideal foil for whipped chèvre’s citrusy favor and light, fluffy texture.
Ingredients
COOKIES
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats coarsely ground in the food processor
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
FILLING
- 4 ounces fresh chèvre
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 orange zested
- 2 tablespoons minced
- crystallized ginger
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch sea salt optional
Instructions
- For the cookies: arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone liners or buttered aluminum foil.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, continue to cook, stirring, until it turns nut-brown in color, about 5 minutes. Transfer browned butter to a medium bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, 1 at a time, mixing each in thoroughly before adding the next.
- Spoon ½ teaspoon–size dollops of batter, spaced about 3 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until cookies are browned around the edges but still a shade lighter in the center. Transfer cookies (on their foil or silicone liner) to a cooling rack and cool completely.
- For the filling: combine chèvre and butter in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth, fluffy, and well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed once sugar is mixed in. Continue mixing until thoroughly blended. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in orange zest, ginger, nutmeg, and sea salt (if using).
- To assemble: Gently lift cooled cookies off sheets and place half, bottom side up, on a work surface. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling onto each cookie, then top with remaining cookies, bottom side down, pressing gently to spread filling to edges of cookies.
Photographed by Beryl Striewski
Leigh Belanger
Leigh Belanger is culture's former food editor. She's been a food writer, editor, and project manager for over a decade— serving as program director for Chefs Collaborative and contributing to local newspapers and magazines. Her first book, The Boston Homegrown Cookbook, was published in 2012. She lives and cooks in Boston with her family.
