JAM-FILLED HOLIDAY COOKIES

JAM-FILLED HOLIDAY COOKIES

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter at cool room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour, bleached preferred
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam or any smooth seedless jam
Confectioner's sugar for sifting

The cookies can be made and assembled a couple of days ahead of time and
stored in an airtight container. I do like the look of confectioner's sugar
sifted over the top of the cookies and that should be done just before
serving. DO NOT CUT OUT any of the cookies until you have found both sizes:
one for the cookies and a smaller one to cut out an opening in the tops. I
found that an apple corer works very well for this task -- you can quickly
stamp holes in dozens of tops.

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium high
speed until pale and light, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until
light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add
the egg, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add the flour and salt and mix on very low speed until the dry ingredients
are moistened and a rough, crumbly dough is formed. Shape the dough into a
disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm but pliable, about 2 to 3
hours. (The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead but should be allowed to
sit out for about 20 minutes to become workable.)

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust a rack to the center
position. Working with half the dough at a time, roll out on a floured
surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out in desired shapes (be sure to have
both large and small cutters selected before you start) and transfer onto a
parchment-lined cookie sheet using a thin metal spatula. Using a very small
cutter, make a hole in the center of half of the dough shapes. The cutout
pieces will be used as the top half of the finished cookies, so be sure you
have an equal number of tops and bottoms.

Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet 180 degrees half way
through the baking time, or until the cookies have taken on a very light
color around the edges. Cool completely on a rack. Repeat with remaining
dough.

Flip over the cookie bottoms (the pieces without cutouts) so that the baked
underside is facing up. Stir the jam well to make it looser and more
spreadable. Spread a thin layer of jam on each cookie bottom. Top with
cutout cookie top. Once filled, the cookies will keep well in an airtight
container for a couple of days. Just before serving, sift confectioner's
sugar over the top of the cookies.

Makes about 30 2-inch cookies