Sabina, from this month's article on ski jumping, takes baking to new heights. Growing up, her favorite part of this irresistible cookie was always the preserves. She always felt the ratio of cookie to preserves was off. Once she started baking, she decided to balance the ratio to her liking, and created a show-stopping masterpiece. Blending silky cream cheese with quality butter offers this light and flaky cookie a subtle sweetness, making the addition of sugar to the dough unnecessary. It feels unusual to omit sugar from a cookie. Honestly, after months of sweets, it’s a welcome departure. Sabina’s unique shape creates a perfect vessel, and once the generous dollop of a favorite preserve melts into the airy nest, the omission of sugar becomes clear. Watching this cookie evolve from start to finish is a fun and mindful baking experience you can share with a kiddo or loved one. With versatility in shapes and preserve preferences, there’s opportunity for everyone to personalize their little cookie to be exactly how they want it to be.
This recipe level is creative and easy, and it does require a little precision, patience, and a tiny spoon. There’s enough dough to make about 20 perfect little cookies, and it takes about 2 hours from start to finish. Have fun!
Ingredients
1 cup of high quality unsalted butter softened
8 oz of cream cheese softened
½ tsp of almond extract
½ tsp of salt
2 cups of all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup preserves of choice
1/4 cup powdered sugar to top off cookies
Tiny spoon for preserves
Soft paint brush
Directions:
- Start by preheating the oven 350 degrees F.
- Cream butter and cream cheese at medium/high until smooth. Once combined, add vanilla extract.
- Add salt and flour in 3 additions to keep the dough light and flaky.
- Flatten and plastic wrap the dough and put in the fridge for 45min -1 hour.
- Use flour to roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick, and cut out 2 inch circles. Using a smaller 1 inch cookie cutter, cut out circles (or hearts for your sweetie) for half of them to form the ring that will be placed on top of the jam.
- With your finger or tiny paint brush, brush some water on the outer edge of the 2 inch circle and place about ½ tsp of jam in the center. Then place the ring on top making sure the jam stays in the center.
- Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until a slightly golden color.
- Once cooled down, sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!