Empire Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Cream butter.
• Add sugar, creaming well.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness.
• Cut into 2-inch rounds, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes or until very lightly browned at edges.
• Cool thoroughly.
• Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and enough hot water to make a thin icing.
• Frost tops of cookies.
• Top each with a small piece of candied cherry.

Steps:

• Cream butter. Add sugar, creaming well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch rounds, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned at edges. Cool thoroughly.
• Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and enough hot water to make a thin icing. Frost tops of cookies. Top each with a small piece of candied cherry.

Steps:

• Put the flour, butter, 85g of the icing sugar, the vanilla and egg yolks in a food processor and pulse in bursts until combined (alternatively, rub together the butter and flour with your fingertips and mix in the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks). Add ½ tbsp water if the mix feels a little dry. Tip the rough mixture onto a work surface and briefly knead until the dough has come together. Wrap and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out to around 3mm thick. Cut 24 rounds from the dough with a 7cm cutter. Bring the remaining scraps of pastry together and reroll to make more biscuits. Line up the discs of dough on the baking sheets, then bake for 10-12 mins or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
• Mix the remaining icing sugar with 2-3 tsp of water to make a very thick icing. Spoon or pipe the icing over the top of half of the biscuits, leaving a border around the edge of each one. Top with a small piece of glacé cherry in the centre, then leave to set for 30 mins. Spread the jam over the un-iced biscuits and sandwich together with the iced halves. Will keep for two days in an airtight tin.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour until well blended. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a cookie cutter.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Sandwich one teaspoon of jam between two cookies. Repeat with remaining cookies. In a medium bowl, gradually stir the milk into the confectioners' sugar until the icing is of a spreadable consistency. Spread on top of the sandwiched cookies. Top each cookie with half of a cherry while the icing is still wet.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.
• Beat in egg and extracts.
• Add flour and salt to the bowl and mix them into the butter-sugar mixture at low speed until dough is just combined.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Divide dough in half and keep the portion you are not using in the refrigerator.
• Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8-inch thick.
• Use a cookie cutter to cut out 2-inch rounds.
• Place rounds on a baking sheet, put a teaspoon of jam on each of them and cover with another round of dough. Press edges down lightly, pinching the edges onto the cookie sheet.
• Use a toothpick and poke two small holes (like a vampire bite) in the top of each cookie.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set.
• Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Dip a toothpick in some extra red jam and re-insert in the "bite" holes you made before baking to emphasize them, if not already red. Draw a blood trickle down from one of the bites with the jam, if desired.
• Cookies are best the day they are made.

Steps:

• In large bowl, using hand mixer on medium, cream together butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg and blend thoroughly. Add flour, baking soda and cream of tartar, and mix well.
• On lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/8-1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at preheated 300F oven until lightly golden around edges, about 12-15 minutes.
• While still hot, sandwich together with jam. Set on rack to cool.
• In small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, extract, and enough water to make icing. Ice tops of cooled cookies and decorate as desired.