Jam Cookies

I have a confession to make -- I am officially obsessed with baking. I have gone from scoffing at recipes for sweet treats to bookmarking so many of those same recipes that if I actually made all of them, my husband and I probably wouldn't fit on our bed. I don't know what caused this turn from savory to sweet -- I just know that last week, I turned not once but twice to baking when I was feeling a little bit blue. These jam cookies were the result of one of my baking flurries. The recipe is from Joy the Baker. It is the type of recipe that is perfect for when you are itching to bake but you don't have a lot of special ingredients lying around. My husband loved the jam flavor in the cookies and I loved the delicate pink color of the cookies. I used strawberry jam but you can, of course, use any type of thick jam you happen to have in the refrigerator. My husband's suggestion for next time is to pipe some jam into the middle of the cookies so you have a little bit of a surprise when you bite into the cookies. I promise to share if I am able to figure out a way to make this jam filling idea work. The recipe is slightly altered from the original. I was able to halve the recipe with no problem.

Jam Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cups sugar, plus more for coating the cookies
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk (I used fat free half-and-half)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of strawberry jam, or any thick jam you have on hand

Directions

1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger and salt.

3. Beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and beat for a minute. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes more. The mixture will be satiny. Add the milk and vanilla and beat just to combine. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled, it will even out shortly. Add the jam and beat for 1 minute more. Add the dry ingredients and mix only until they are incorporated.

4. Spoon the dough by the rounded teaspoonfuls into a dish of granulated sugar. Toss to coat and place on a baking sheet, leaving about an inch between the mounds.

5. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will be only just firm, fairly pale and browned around the edges. Pull the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, the carefully transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.