Biscota Thipla Me Marmelada (Sandwich Cookies with Marmalade)

Biscota thipla means “double cookies” in Greek, and that’s exactly what these are: tender, faintly sweet pastry rounds sandwiched around a generous spoon of apricot preserves. The cookie itself is closer to a Greek butter biscuit than an American sugar cookie, with a soft, almost cake-like crumb that softens further once the marmalade goes in.

The dough comes together with sifted flour, four egg yolks (the whites get reserved for the cookie tops), sugar, vanilla, melted butter, and just enough milk to make a soft, kneadable dough. A short ten-minute rest lets the gluten relax so the dough rolls thin without springing back at you.

Brushing the cookie tops with lightly beaten egg white before baking gives them a delicate sheen. They bake at low oven heat to set without coloring much, which preserves that pale, biscuit-like look. Sandwich them with apricot jam right before serving so the cookies don’t go soggy in storage.

Pro Tips

• Roll the dough out to an even quarter-inch thickness. Uneven rolling gives you cookies that bake at different speeds and don’t pair cleanly for sandwiches.
• Cut the rounds in pairs and bake matching sizes together. Two slightly different sizes won’t seal the marmalade properly.
• Let the cookies cool fully before filling. Hot cookies melt the jam and the sandwich slides apart.
• Store unfilled cookies in an airtight tin for up to a week. Fill only what you’ll eat the same day.

Variations

• Use orange marmalade or quince paste in place of apricot for different fruit profiles.
• Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with sliced almonds before baking for crunch.
• Dust filled cookies with powdered sugar for a more festive presentation.