Jam Filled Butter Cookies
Don’t these jam filled butter cookies look positively astral? Oh my goodness, you guys! They are like little suns that will brighten up your morning (or afternoon or evening) coffee or your lunch box! And, they are as delicious as they are beautiful.
We used an assortment of purchased jams to fill ours but they would be excellent with homemade jam. Farmer’s markets are bursting with fresh fruit right now so, if you enjoy making your own jams and jellies, these are the perfect cookies to showcase them!
Enjoy a little sunshine in the remaining days of summer!
P.S. If you eat one of these a day, you will always have sunshine 🙂
We used strawberry, apricot and raspberry jam to fill our cookies, but you can use any jam you’d like!
Jam Filled Butter Cookies
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 TBS heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (8oz) best quality unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (4.6 oz) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ¼ cups (6 oz) bread flour
- ¾ cup (4 oz) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup jam(s) of your choice
Heat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Whisk together egg yolk, vanilla and heavy cream in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy – about 3 minutes on medium-high speed in a stand mixer. Add egg yolk mixture and beat briefly until well combined. Add flour and mix on low until dough just comes together. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down sides of bowl and be sure flour is fully incorporated.
Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a #7 (about 5/8”) star tip. We used a fine star tip, but you can experiment with the size and style of tip you prefer. You can also use a cookie press. To make the “rays” of the sun for the butter cookie, hold the bag (or cookie press) completely upright and about ½” above the cookie sheet, press bag and slowly rotate the bag clockwise ¼ turn and then counter clockwise ¼ turn. This makes the gentle wave in the butter cookie. Stop squeezing the bag and rotate back clockwise while gently lifting the bag. You may need to use your other hand to hold down the parchment paper on either side of the cookie to help the cookie stay down and the tip release. The tip will leave a small indentation in the center of the cookie, which is fine since it will be filled with jam. Continue piping cookies about 1” apart to fill sheet. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or the back of a ¼ teaspoon measure dipped in flour, gently press the center of each cookie to make a clean indentation for the jam.
Fill a small zip top bag(s) with your choice of jam(s). Cut off one of the bottom corners to create a small hole. Fill the indentation in each cookie by gently squeezing the zip top bag to release a small amount of jam. You can also use a small spoon if you prefer not to mess with the bag.
Bake in center of oven, one sheet at a time for about 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheet 180 degrees halfway through baking. Cookies should be light golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 15 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies will have the best texture when enjoyed the same day they are made. They can be stored in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper for up to 5 days. The flavor will still be great, but they will lose a bit of their crisp texture.
Makes about 60