Buttery Jam Tarts

It is getting so close to Christmas,and I hadn't started to bake cookies to give to friends and family.  So I pulled out all of my small books on cookie making that I have collected over the years and opened up to this recipe.  I always double original recipes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup Butter softened

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup cherry (I used Raspberry) preserves

sugar for sprinkling 

Heat oven to 350 F degrees. Combine flour,sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda, salt, milk and almond extract.  Beat together until well mixed.  Roll out dough half at a time on floured surface, to 1/8" thickness.  Cut with 2 1/2" round cookie cutter.  Place half of the circles on an ungreased  cookie sheet.  Spoon level teaspoonsfuls of  preserves onto the center of each cookie. Top with the cookie tops that have the star cutouts. Press around the edges with a fork.  Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.  ( I needed more time than that.)  Remove and sprinkle with sugar.  Cool and store.

I find that cookbooks put out by actual food companies work very well.  Their recipes are time tested and are easy to follow.

 Some of the ingredients for these cookies.

 

 

 I melted the butter in my mid sized cast iron frying pan.

 

 Unbleached flour

 The recipe calls for cutting the dough in half.

For the filling I used seedless Raspberry preserves.

I have several mini cookie cutter sets.

 This set had the star cutter.

 This is the round cookie cutter for the tops and bottoms.

The cookie bottom circles.

 Since th is was the first time that I tried these cookies, I spaced them too close together.  Then I replaced them and set them two (2) inches apart.

 When I spooned on the preserves, i didn't know if the filling would ooze out of the cookies.  I should have used more filling.  the recipe suggested s level teaspoon.  They were correct.  The cookies needed more.

 The preserves from Gross' orchard in Lynchburg, Virginia.

 The second half of the dough is rolled out and the star cutter makes the hole in the center of each circle top.

 I used a fork to crimp the two halves of the cookie together.  Looking at the perfect circles in the booklet, maybe I should have re-cut the circles after I did this.  Oh well.

 In the 350 F degree oven.

 Lastly after they were out of the oven, I sprinkled them with raw sugar.  The recipe used regular white sugar, and they might have twinkled better.

Money in the bank, when you have cookies stored in a plastic tub for holiday gifts.  I think that more filling and thinner circles would have made this cookie a better offering.  Next time!