Rasberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Can you believe Christmas is next week?  When you are in the midst of the holiday bustle, it is nice to step back and take some time to savor this wonderful time of year.  One of our favorite ways soak up the holidays is to bake yummy cookies!  We love the standard sugar cookies & chocolate chip, but it is fun to whip up something a little more unexpected.  That is why we love these Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies!  The pretty red raspberry jam has a very festive look, and the flavors work so well together that everyone will be raving about the delicious taste.

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp  all-purpose flour*
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced into 1 Tbsp pieces
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam, seedless if preferred
 
Glaze (optional)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 - 4 tsp water 

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour and salt, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar until combined (it will take a minute or two since the butter is cold. If you don't have a paddle attachment that constantly scrapes bowl, then occasionally stop mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl). Mix in almond extract then add in flour blend until mixture comes together (it will take a bit of mixing since the butter is cold, so be patient, it will seem really dry at first).
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls, about 1 Tbsp each, and place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Make a small indentation with thumb or forefinger in each cookie (large enough to fit 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of jam). Fill each with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp jam. Chill in refrigerator 20 minutes (or freezer for 10 minutes). Bake in preheated oven 14 - 18 minutes.
• Cool several minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool (at this point you can add a little more jam if you'd like to, it just won't be set like the other is). Drizzle cookies with glaze when when cool. Store cookies in an airtight container.
• For the glaze:
• Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, adding enough water to reach desired consistency. Pour or spoon mixture into a sandwich size resealable bag, cut a small tip from one corner and drizzle over cookies.

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