Jam Filled Shortbread Cookies

When I was a child, jam filled shortbread cookies were my absolute favorite cookies at Christmas.  I looked forward to them every year, because the small town I lived in only had them around Christmas. Sadly my mother was diabetic and not a baker, so I had to make due with having them once a year.

Now that I'm all grown up I was surprised that they are my son's favorite cookies as well as my own. Thankfully they are so much easier to make then Gingerbread Men or Sugar Cookies.  So I don't just make them for Christmas, I also make them for tea with friends. So I thought while this recipe was still fresh in my mind I would share it.

Jam Filled Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup jam(I use the jam from this recipe)


Directions:

Beat butter in your stand mixer on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined. Beat in flour 1/2 cup at a time, until all is combined.  Cover and chill for 1 hour in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam into each indentation. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.

"Some foods are so comforting, so nourishing of body and soul, that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey.  To eat such a meal is to remember that, though the world is full of knives and storms, the body is built for kindness.  The angels, who know hunger, have never been as satisfied."

--Eli Brown