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–+ servings
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Course Baking
Cuisine Ghanaian, West African
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 32 minutes
Cooling and Frosting Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 17 minutes
Servings 10 sandwich cookes

Ingredients

Tamarind Jam

  • 3 tablespoons (65g) of tamarind pulp packed
  • 1 cup (240ml) of hot water
  • 56 g (1/3 cup) of white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of cornstarch

Cookie

  • 85 g (1/2 cup) of white granulated sugar
  • 113 g (1/2 cup) of unsalted room temperature butter
  • 1 tablespoon (20g) of unsweetened apple sauce
  • 200 g (1 2/3 cup) of all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
  • 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon of kelewele spice see notes for substitutions
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Make the Tamarind Jam

  • Soak the tamarind in the hot water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the tamarind would have softened significantly. Use a fork to break apart any large pieces then, with your hands, massage the pieces into the water.
  • Strain out the seeds and any large pieces.
  • Pour the tamarind juice into a small pot. Bring to a boil then add the sugar. allow the jam to cook for 15-20 minutes at medium heat while you make your cookies. Check on it periodically to ensure it is reducing and thickening.

Make the cookie

  • Cream the butter and sugar together
  • Add the apple sauce
  • Mix in the dry ingredients(flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and spices) along with the vanilla extract. Use your hands to make a round ball.
  • Preheat your oven to 320°F.
  • Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper until 1/2 a centimetre thick.
  • By now, the tamarind jam should have been reduced to a maple syrup-like texture. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water and pour into the tamarind mix. Allow the jam to simmer at medium-low heat for a few minutes (3-5 minutes) to thicken some more to almost a thick syrup/sauce-like texture. Take it off the stove to cool and further solidify. I usually stick the pot in the fridge to make it cool faster.
  • Cut out the cookies using your favourite cookie cutter shape. Cut out the cookie's centre for the tops of the sandwiches.
  • Bake the cookies at 320°F for 12 minutes.
  • Allow your baked cookies to fully cool down.

Assemble the sandwich cookies

  • Everything is ready to assemble. Place 1 - 2 teaspoons of the tamarind jam on the sandwich bottoms. Place cookies with cutouts on top.
  • You could dust the cookies with powdered sugar, or you can mix the tamarind jam with a little bit of milk and powdered sugar to get a thick paste and then drizzle on top of the cookies.

Notes

Kelewele spice is not necessary at all. It is what I had on hand. You can use chai masala or pumpkin spice latte mix or even equal parts cloves, ginger and nutmeg powder. 
The jam makes more than enough for the cookie. It is incredible on toast or ontop of pancakes.