Jam Filled Wreaths Hearts Recipes

JAM-FILLED WREATHS & HEARTS

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice; add to the creamed mixture. Stir in oats and nuts; mix well. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle. , On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2-in. round- or 2-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Using a 1-in. round- or heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the center of half of the cookies. Place solid and window cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. , Bake at 400° for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. , Spread 1 tsp. jam over bottoms of solid cookies; top with window cookies. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Fill centers with additional jam if desired.

JAM FILLED BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

JAM-FILLED CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F; line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a food processor fitted with steel blade, process walnuts and 1/4 cup of the flour until nuts are quite finely chopped; remove from processor into a dish and set aside.
• Place remaining flour into food processor, along with butter and icing sugar; process until mixture has a crumbly texture, about 10 seconds or so.
• Return nut mixture to food processor, along with almond extract and the egg.
• Process until entire mixture is combined; 15 seconds or so.
• Make one-inch balls from mixture and place on prepared cookie sheet; using the end of a wooden spoon, make an indentation into each cookie.
• Fill each hole with a wee bit of jam; I prefer seedless raspberry, but will use strawberry too-- I find the red jams suit the holiday season, but you can use any jam you want.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.