Make these with freshly-picked blueberries for a festive and seasonal treat.
Cookies:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Filling:
2 cups blueberries, fresh is best!
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup cold water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs, and vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
- Add dry mixture to creamed mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate dough while you make the filling.
- In a saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and 1/3 cup of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- In a measuring cup, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of water and cornstarch, stirring to combine.
- Continue to cook blueberry filling until blueberries lose their shape and mixture begins to thicken (at least 15 minutes).
- Gradually add cornstarch mixture to saucepan, stirring to combine. Allow to boil for at least 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Remove dough from the fridge and divide it in half. Then, on a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8” thickness.
- Time to be creative! These jam-filled sandwiches will need bottoms as well as tops; the tops should have some sort of a hole or “window” to showcase the pretty blueberry filling. I chose to use a square cookie-cutter for the main shape and a maple leaf cookie-cutter to create the window. Once you cut out your tops and bottoms from the initial rolled dough, collect the scraps and re-roll until all has been used.
- Place bottoms and tops on ungreased cookie sheets (don’t worry about spacing, they don’t expand much) and bake for 10 minutes. The edges should be just browning; do not overbake.
- Remove to racks and allow to cool completely.
- When you are ready to assemble, place a dollop of filling on a cookie bottom and spread it evenly with a knife. Place a cookie top on the filling and press lightly to close.
Recipe makes ~15 cookies, plus the center cutouts and a little bit of extra blueberry filling for dipping.
