BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

These delectable little bites came from the cookbook 500 Cookies from Sellers Publishing . I am always skeptical of butter cookies but these are very moist. They take quite the process to make though. The dough for the cookie itself is very difficult to work with since there is so much butter in it. I had to keep putting it back in the refrigerator because it would become sticky and soft very quickly. It made what appeared to be a simple recipe very time consuming (and annoying). It took me my whole afternoon to make about 20 sandwich cookies. Phew! The good news is they are a hit! I really needed one after the last two misses. At least all the hard work paid off.

The final product is reminiscent of a linzer cookie but the proportions are much different. For the filling I used raspberry preserves and the cream cheese mixture the recipe provides. I only filled the cookies with a thin layer of each because overloading them made them too sweet and basically caused the filling to squeeze out of the sandwich the minute you bite into one. Jelly on your shirt is never a good look.




Here is the adapted recipe and since it was pretty vague to begin with I added some notes to help:

Cookies:
1 1/4 cups butter
3/4 cup fine sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour

Beat the butter minus 2 tbsp., sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in the egg. Add salt and flour until mixed. Shape the dough into a flat ball and refridgerate for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll out. (You may want to divide the dough into 2 rounds so you can work with one until it gets soft and swap it for the cold dough. It will help keep the process moving).

Heat the over to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8" and cut out circles approximately 2" in diameter. Any shape will work so use the cutter you like. Put the cookies on a nonstick baking sheet about 1" apart and bake for about 11-12 minutes. Be careful not to over bake, this keeps the moist texture. I only let mine brown slightly at the edges. Cool the cookies on a wire rack completely before adding the filling.

Beat the remaining butter with the confectioner's sugar until soft. Stir in the cream cheese. Spread preserves on one side of the cookie and the cream cheese mixture on the other half. Sandwich together and serve. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies which can be stored in a sealed container for about one week.