Star Shaped Jam Cookies Recipes

JOULUTORTTU (FINNISH CHRISTMAS STAR COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl beat together butter and ricotta cheese with an electric hand mixer. Add the flour, and mix until a soft dough comes together.
• Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball and wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (up to overnight), until firm.
• Preheat your oven to 425F.
• Lightly flour your countertop and roll out one section of dough to a rectangle (roughly 12 x 9 inches) that is about an 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut the dough into 3-inch squares.
• In each square, make four cuts, one from each corner, each going 1/2 - 2/3 of the way to the center of the square.
• Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam in the center of each square.
• Fold every other corner of each square over the jam. Use the beaten egg wash to moisten the corners slightly and lightly press to seal the corners together over top of the jam.
• Transfer your pinwheel cookie to a parchment lined baking sheet, placing the cookies 1 inch apart.
• Repeat with the second half of the dough.
• Lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the beaten egg.
• Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes, until golden.
• Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once the cookies are cool, dust them lightly with powdered sugar.
• Store the cookies in an air-tight container on the counter for 3-4 days.

RASPBERRY STAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Dough will be stiff. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into star shapes using a cookie cutter. Set cookies 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place a teaspoon of jam onto each cookie and spread out towards the points of the stars. Roll out remaining half of the dough and cut into stars the same size. cut holes in the center of each star, then place them onto the jam stars.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden around the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and almond extract to form a glaze. Add water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too thick to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

LINZER STAR SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookie batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes.
• In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Mix and roll the cookies: Because this dough has a good amount of butter, it needs resting time and it needs to be rolled fairly quickly. Lay three large pieces of wax paper in a single layer on a flat surface. Sprinkle each one with a light coating of flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place one third of the batter on each of the pieces of wax paper. Coat with another light layer of flour and top with another piece of wax paper of the same length to make three dough "sandwiches." Press these wax-paper-and-dough-sandwiches down with your hands until the dough is fairly thin. This will save a lot of time on rolling later on. Place two of them in the refrigerator and work with them one at a time. Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8 inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other two. Let them chill at least 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch stars (or rounds) as you can. Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange the stars neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a star, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies. Roll the scraps in between two of the pieces of wax paper and cut additional stars, if desired.
• Bake and assemble the cookie sandwiches: Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the trays for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. P
• Place the raspberry jam in a small pot and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a top star squarely on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.