Buttered Rum-pa-pum-pums (Second Place)

Found https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/recipes/2017/12/05/buttered-rum-pa-pum-pums-second-place/893570001/

Milwaukee Published 6:00 a.m. CT Dec. 5, 2017

Mike Behringer of Milwaukee combined two cookie recipes and then created his own glaze for this Triple Play category winner, which took second place overall. Try to eat just one of these.

Buttered Rum-pa-pum-pums (Second Place)
Recipe tested by Carol Deptolla

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Hazelnut cookies:

½ cup hazelnuts
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup flour
Pinch of salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, roughly cut
2 tablespoons milk or water

Caramel filling:

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) room-temperature unsalted butter, cubed
½ cup warm heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Frangelico
½ teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)
1 cup whole pitted dates, minced

Butter-rum glaze:

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
6 to 8 tablespoons dark rum, such as Whaler’s
4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Make hazelnut cookies: Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan until fragrant and skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes.

Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove any loose skins (some skins may not come off) and cool to room temperature.

In a food processor, pulse nuts and sugar until nuts are finely ground, then add flour and salt and pulse until combined. Add butter and pulse while slowly adding a tablespoon of milk until dough just forms a ball. (Up to 2 tablespoons liquid may be required for the dough to come together.


Divide dough in half, then roll out dough on a work surface lightly dusted with sugar and flour into two (11-inch-long) logs, each about 1 inch in diameter. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.

Preheat oven again to 350 degrees.

Cut logs crosswise into ½-inch slices and arrange rounds 2 inches apart on two baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, 3 to 5 minutes, until dough has softened. Pull from oven and, using a spoon, create a soft depression in center of each cookie. Return to oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden and edges begin to brown.

Let cool on pan 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Make caramel filling: In a medium saucepan, cook sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and amber-colored, about 3 minutes. (Clumps may form but will eventually melt. Be careful not to burn.)

Carefully add butter and cook, stirring constantly, until completely melted, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour in cream, stirring constantly. (The caramel will bubble and appear to seize at first; continue stirring.)

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, Frangelico and salt. Let cool completely. Stir in minced dates.

Assemble: Spoon ½ to 1 teaspoon of filling into each cooled cookie, leaving a small “hill” of caramel in the middle.

Using inside of a spoon, smooth out surface of caramel, pulling away from center and to edges of cookie for a soft dome appearance.

Place each wire rack over a tray or parchment paper to catch excess glaze from the next step. Return cookies to racks.

Prepare butter-rum glaze: Over medium heat, melt butter in a saucepan. Use a light-colored pan to keep track of the color. Periodically swirl the butter to ensure even cooking. Initially the butter will foam, but slowly milk solids will sink and darken.

When the butter is tan or light amber, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Add rum.

While whisking, add powdered sugar and salt. If glaze thickens too much, small amounts of added rum or hot water will help keep the consistency thin.

While icing is still somewhat warm, gently pour it over the cookies on the wire rack. The icing will thicken as it cools, which may require tapping on the racks to remove excess glaze.

Let cookies sit out a couple hours before serving, to allow the glaze to harden.

Notes: Yield will vary, depending on how large and evenly the logs of dough are rolled, from as few as 20 to as many as 44. The rum flavor in the glaze mellows after a day or two.