Cooking with Manuela: Holidays Sandwich Cookies

Make it a Christmas to remember with these buttery and flaky, jam packed sandwich cookies

Have you start your Christmas cookie baking yet?
If not, here is a simple and delicious recipe for some buttery and flaky, irresistible sandwich cookies. These are perfect not just to enjoy with some hot chocolate or eggnog under the mistletoe, but wrapped up in some festive paper to make edible stocking stuffers.
And if were wondering, while tradition has it that people kiss under the mistletoe ... I eat cookies :)

It's so easy to get into the holiday spirit when baking (or eating) these cookies. Have fun and use any festive cookie cutter available (tree, snowman, bell, snowflake...). I made some star cookies and some simple round with a star shaped peek-a-boo hole on top where all the jam comes oozing out. Use your favorite fruit flavor ... or chocolate spread too, now that I think of it.

These cookies are made with traditional Italian pasta frolla (pastry dough), which is similar to a sugar cookie dough, but with the addition of egg yolks and no baking powder nor baking soda.
Here is one trick for you. Most recipes say to refrigerate the dough before you roll it out and cut into shape, but why?!?! It's so much harder to roll once it's cold. So here is what I do. Roll when still soft, and preferably on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Refrigerate (or freeze if you don't have much time to wait around) and cut into cookies with perfect edges!
Oh, one more thing. Don't forget to roll out the scraps and make more cookies. And if you need, simply double up the ingredients and make even more.
Now, enough with all the cookie-talk. Let's get baking :)

This recipe first appeared on Cooking with Manuela in December 2017.

INGREDIENTS:

YIELD: about 14 sandwich cookies (mine are 3 inches in diameter)

- 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 6 oz (170 gr) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups (300 gr) of all-purpose flour
- about 1/2 cup of apricot preserve (or your favorite fruit)
- powder sugar to decorate

PREPARATION:

TIME: about 1 hour
Remove the butter from the refrigerator at least half hour before starting with the recipe.

In a large bowl, add the egg yolks, sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt. Mix well until smooth.

Add the butter cut in pieces, and blend well.

Add the flour one cup at the time and mix until combined.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter, or silicone baking mat if you have it, to about 1/6 inch thick (about 4 mm).

I suggest working with half or a third of the dough at a time.

Refrigerate the rolled out dough for about 20 minuets (or freeze for 10 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175°C).
Line one or more baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut into shapes with star shaped or (your favorite shape) cookie cutter. Help yourself with a large spatula to move the cookies to the baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes (depending on how thick you actually made your cookies) until the edges are slightly golden. Don't cook too much or your cookies will be too crunchy.