Making Cookie Rings (and a Test Batch of Cookies)

Dorie Greenspan has been making these amazing looking "Jammer" cookies for a while. We've never tried making them. This presented a perfect excuse for me to try to improve my completely awful welding skills. Here's how I made a set of 3" and 3.5" cookie rings. I made them at techshop.

Step 1: Cut Some Strips

Cut a sheet of stainless steel to 9.7" (3" * π plus enough overlap for the ring to stay together) long, then cut it the other way into 1.5" strips. I used a hydraulic sheer.

Step 2: Make Them Round(ish)

Shape the strips of metal into rings using a slip roller. The roller I used is a little too big to roll a 3" circle so I ended up with C shaped rings and just finished shaping them by hand.

Step 3: Weld (or Maybe Burn) the Ends Together

I set up the TIG welder, which I had used a grand total of once before (in a class last week), clamped a couple of pieces of scrap together and tested a spot weld. Success!

For the rings I overlap the ends by about a third of an inch, clamp both edges, welded the center, remove one vise grip, weld, repeat on the other edge. I only managed to burn a hole in one or two of them :-)

A quick cleanup job on a sander and they're ready to go.

After making these five I made another batch of nine 3.5" rings.

Step 4: Test Them Out!

Using this recipe we made the dough, cut it with the rings, add a bit of homemade apricot jam, use a piece of aluminum foil as a cone to sprinkle the streusel around the edges, toss it in the oven.