Le Pavillon Hotel in New Orleans and a Recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

There are four primary ghosts that are known to haunt the hotel. Probably the most famous is a young woman named Ava or Adda. She supposedly left the hotel by carriage in the mid 1800’s headed to board a ship destined for England. On her way to the docks, there was an accident with her carriage and she was killed. Guests report that they see her in the hallways and lobby of the hotel. Some guests and cab drivers say that she will get in a cab from time to time asking to go to the docks and then she will disappear. Poof!  I personally think some of these folks are having waay too many Sazeracs in that town!

Some guests have seen Ava wandering through the lobby…

One of the other, less frightening traditions at Le Pavillon is their service of PB&J every evening at 10 pm in the hotel lobby, and it is a grand serving at that. They serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot chocolate (that is the real thing and so good!) and ice cold milk. They also place miniature PB&J cookies on your pillow every evening (with a recipe for the cookies) for their turndown service. No fancy schmancy chocolates here!

Photo courtesy of Le Pavillon

Now of course, inquiring minds (such as ours) need to know why such things are done, so I asked. There has to be a story behind this nightly event (just as there is a story behind all the haunted stuff). Sure enough…you just never know what you will find out when you ask!

The story is told that years ago, a hotel guest came into the lounge one evening after just checking in and ordered a glass of milk. Of course, the bar keeper asked why he chose such an unusual drink (after all, who doesn’t have a cocktail while in New Orleans?!). The man told him that this was something that he did with his daughter every evening at home. They would have a glass of milk and a PB&J sandwich.

Photo courtesy of Le Pavillon

Since the bar keeper on duty that evening was the General Manger of the hotel, he made a request of the kitchen staff to prepare a PB&J sandwich for this guest to make his stay at the hotel memorable. Pretty soon everyone in the lounge heard about the PB&J sandwich and wanted one too.

The nightly PB&J tradition started on September 10th, 1988 with that evening in the lounge and continues today. Do you think if I ask for champagne and lobster we could start a new tradition?! It’s worth a try!

We had a lovely stay and were very sorry to leave New Orleans and Le Pavillon. I already miss the doorman in his top hat and tails along with the PB&J!  Too bad I didn’t know about the ghosts while we were there, we might have had some videos of Ava to show you. 😮

Do you think I can get a bellman with a top hat at my house?

I sneaked home a few of the darling little PB&J cookies that they leave for you in the room at night, but I also decided to make a batch from the recipe that they leave on your pillow.  These cookies have a shortbread texture and are full of almond flavor and peanut butter. The dough gets very soft once you roll it out, so you might have to chill it between batches.  I would definitely add more jelly than I did to the cookies.  They are quite good and I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Shhh…these are some of Le Pavillon’s PB&J cookies.

I don’t know about you, but I will never think of PB&J the same way again!  Spooky…

Enjoy your weekend!

Print Recipe

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Yield: Approximately 32 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Lovely shortbread cookies with almond and peanut butter flavors topped with PB&J. Be sure to make the cookie dough at least 6 hours ahead as it needs to firm up in the refrigerator before rolling it out to make the cookies.

Ingredients:

3/4 cups softened butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole egg (at room temperature)
5 ounces creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup almond paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
Grape jelly, for tops of cookies
Peanut butter, for tops of cookies

Directions:

Using a paddle in a mixer, blend butter and sugar for a couple of minutes until mixture comes together, then add the egg, creamy peanut butter, almond extract, almond paste and flour. Refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Roll cookie dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thickened. Cut out 2 circles for each cookie, one 2 inches and one 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Place the 2 inch circle down on an ungreased baking sheet and place the 1 1/2 inch circle on top of it. Hollow out a section in each side of the smaller circle and place peanut butter in one side and jelly in the other.

Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cook’s notes: My cookies took a few more minutes to brown. You will find that the bottom halves brown quicker. Be sure to check them every minute or two so that they do not burn.

Adapted slightly from a recipe by Le Pavillon Hotel – New Orleans, Louisiana