Buttery Jam Cookies

Try-Outs for Christmas Cookies! The time is yet again here! And this one's a beaut...

First let me just say: I beat you, Tuesdays with Dorie people! Ha! TAKE THAT!! Everybody is gonna see my fabulous cookies before you can post them all over the blogosphere and back in a few weeks! SO. THERE.

Er, um. Here's some buttery jam cookies. They are tres delicious, at first sweet and buttery, and then you are whacked with chewy bits of tart jam. Mmmmmmm. While simple and not much to look at, I truly think these are my new favorite cookies. An added plus is that they are teeny, so you can stuff at least 3 or 4 of these suckers in your mouth before you start to feel guilty...

Buttery Jam Cookies

(from Dorie's Baking: From My Home To Yours, 2006)

Ingredients:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 c. sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. jam of choice (Dorie recommends apricot; I used cherry)
Confectioners sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place two racks in the oven, one in the upper third of the oven and one in the lower third of the oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar (on high speed) for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat on high speed for an additional minute. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and beat on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the jam and beat on low speed for 1 minute.

Add the dry ingredients, with the mixer on low speed, just until they're mixed in. The dough will be extremely thick and stiff.
With a an ice cream scoop our a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of the dough onto baking sheets, forming cookies that are about 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches in size (I used a piping bag, with my largest tip).

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the trays from top rack to bottom rack halfway through. Once baked, let the cookies sit on the pan for a minute or two and then remove to a wire rack and let cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar, if desired.