‘Tis the season for marvelous baked goods! Really, though, these Finnish Spoon Cookies should not be relegated to a specific time of year. These cookies are dreamy little bites of tender shortbread sandwiched around your favorite jam. The dough is just the slightest bit fussy to shape, but you’ll quickly forgive it for giving you a hard time: it’s just that tasty.

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These shortbread-style sandwich cookies are made with browned butter for a deep, nutty flavor. Pair that with your favorite jam (I recommend choosing one with a hint of tartness). Only a handful of other ingredients are required for these exquisite little bites! Also, I’m not a big tea drinker (yet. I am trying, not for the first time, to get into it) but these strike me as a cookie that’s meant to accompany a cup of tea.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Tools & Equipment for Finnish Spoon Cookies

small saucepan
Large mixing bowl & small mixing bowl
forks, pastry cutter or handheld mixer
Spatula
Spoon for scooping cookies
baking sheets
butter knife for spreading jam
measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients for Finnish Spoon Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks, 225g) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk
jam or jelly of your choosing: cloudberry would technically be the most traditional. Blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry all work beautifully!
more sugar, granulated or powdered, to coat

The Process: How to Make Finnish Spoon Cookies

Prep

Brown the butter: Place butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow it to melt, then continue to cook, occasionally stirring gently. The butter will begin to pop and fizz: When it stops, watch closely, occasionally giving a little stir with a spatula. Shortly after the popping stops, it will begin to brown: you will probably smell it! Little brown flecks will appear at the bottom. Stir a few more times until a lot of brown bits are appearing, then remove from the heat. When in doubt, remove it: you don’t want it to burn. Set the browned butter aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Farenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Mix & Shape

When the butter is cool but still liquid, place in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and the vanilla, until well combined.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until well combined. You will have a very crumbly dough. Add the yolk to the dough and mix well. You can use forks, a pastry cutter, or a handheld beater for this. Mix until the yolk is well dispersed and mixed in. The dough will still be very crumbly, but it should stick together when you press it between two fingers.

Use a spoon to shape the cookies: Press a spoonful of dough together, so that it forms a spoon/shell shaped cookie. Slide each onto the prepared baking sheets.

finnish spoon cookie dough ready to bake — clearly, taken in the wrong lighting, but ready to bake!

Bake & Assemble

Bake for 7-11 minutes (will vary based on the size of spoon that you used!) The cookies will appear puffy and very lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets. They will be far too soft to handle while they are hot. Once cool, turn half the cookies so that the flat side is up. Spread a little jam on each, then top with another cookie.

Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl, and gently spoon each sandwich through the sugar, turning to coat all sides. Remove the sugared cookies to a cooling rack.

Serve & Enjoy!

These keep wonderfully for a few days at room temperature, in a sealed bag or container. Some even prefer them after a day or two, when some of the jam has leached into the cookies. You can also freeze them for a few months!