On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four poppy seed cookies with red current jam, three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies and a freshly baked ginger snap
I saw the inspiration for these somewhere but then went my own way with them. We tried them three different ways: open-faced with the jam, as sandwiches with the jam in the middle (the reason I decided to roll the dough out and cut them rather than dropping the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet), and plain. All three were very tasty. I think I left them about 30 seconds too long in the oven, and they were a little crisp rather than soft, but overall, very tasty. I believe the original recipe called for raspberry jam, but I used red currents as that is what I had on hand, and I think that cranberries would work equally well.
Ingredients:
For the jam:
1 c of red currents (or other berries)
1/3 c sugar
For the cookies:
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c flour
3 tbsp poppy seeds
Zest of 1 lemon
1) Place berries and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer stirring regularly until it thickens to form a jam. Taste test and add a little extra sugar if necessary. You don't want this too thick, but if you plan on making sandwiches then you don't want it too thin either.
2)Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and mix well. Add the remaining ingredients, and stir to form a dough.
3) On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1 - 1.5 cm thick, and then cut out rounds (use a smaller cutter than you want the cookies as these will grow).
OR (if you don't plan on making sandwiches) 3) drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a prepared cookie sheet and then flatten with a knife dipped in cold water.
4) Bake at 190°C for 8 minutes. Allow to cool, then spread with jam.
These were a new addition to our Christmas cookie roster but I think they will be staying. We can't agree on how we like these best. Let me know what you think!
EDIT: I made these again this year, but used cranberry jam instead of making fresh red currant jam. It worked very nicely!
