I used to make these cookies with my mum and now I enjoy making them with my kids. They are packed with memories of laughter and good time for me. As we shape them there is so much anticipation in the air...
My weekly subscribers and other clients I see pretty much every week would have recently received them from me as a gift. Since I got a few messages saying how much they enjoyed them, I decided to share the recipe for the dough.
You can make them with a bit of jam inside, like in this picture, or with a bit of ricotta and chocolate chips in their centre and folded like a half moon. Great for an afternoon tea!
Ingredients (makes 20-30 cookies depending on the dimensions):
250g flour (I use wheat "00" flour)
150g butter at room temperature
100g sugar
1 egg
vanilla essence or pod seeds
For the filling: any of your favourite jams, or ricotta cheese (200g) and chocolate chips.
Required time:
Prep time 1 hour (including filling and shaping the cookies)
Rest time 1 hour in fridge
Baking time 10-15 minutes
Mix the butter at room temperature with the sugar until it forms a smooth cream. Add the egg, mix just to incorporate (you don't want to mix for a long time or the dough becomes more cakie than cookie.) Mix the flour and vanilla into the dough to incorporate.
Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, best for 1 hour if you can. This is so that the dough becomes more solid and easier to work with. (If you are pressed for time you can even put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to speed up the cooling process.)
Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it down to 2-3mm thickness with a rolling pin.
As you shape the cookies, try to keep the dough in your hands as little as possible as it will make the dough warm and harder to work (in which case you can add a bit of flour or put it in the freezer for a few minutes). Cut the dough into cookie shapes (I've used a flower-shape below.) You may wish to make holes in half of them using a cookie cutter or, like me, the top edge of an apple corer. Over the cookies without a hole, place half a teaspoon of jam and then place the top halves (with holes) on top. Gently tap the two halves together.
Place the assembled cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 170 C with fan, they need to be only slightly golden in colour. Keep an eye on them after 10 minutes to ensure they do not get brown.
Let cool and keep in an air tight container, they will be great for a full week...if only they could last so long ...;)
Let us know if you are making them and tag @ambras.kitchen on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!!!