Shortbread Sandwiches

My cupboards are a mess. I have very little storage space in my kitchen so all my spices are on one shelf. God forbid I need to garnish something in a hurry because I will be looking for that paprika for the next two years.  So yesterday, when I was taking a break from homework and writing, I started organizing my spice shelf.  I found a lot of things that I didn’t know existed; 2 cloves of garlic, three cinnamon sticks and my most exciting find, vanilla beans! I love how the tiny black seeds make any dessert look more fancy. I took a break from organizing and made Shortbread Sandwiches, half with dulce de leche and half with strawberry jam.   The vanilla bean adds a nice vanilla flavor.  Oh, and when you’re done scraping out the seeds, stick the pod into some raw sugar to make vanilla sugar.  Alright, I am going to go back to organizing, maybe I’ll find some other exotic spice that I didn’t know I had.

Adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup  sugar
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dulce de leche
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam

Directions: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in vanilla bean scrapings. Incorporate in salt and flour, and mix until just incorporated. Place dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Roll out dough and cut into circles, refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes, and then bake for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly firm. Wait till the cookies are cool, add jam to one half and then place the other cookie on top.  Repeat with another cookie and add dulce de leche. Keep sandwiching until all the cookies are done. Enjoy!

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