Jammies!!

Last weekend my mother and I were driving home from Sunday breakfast at my uncle's house when we saw a sign for a farmer's market in our neighborhood. We were both kind of skeptical, because we had never heard about a market in our neighborhood in the 6 years we have lived in our house, and also because it is February in Massachusetts! What kind of produce grows locally at this time of year?! Despite our skepticism, we decided to follow the signs to the local garden center and investigate.

We walked into a little indoor store, which we never knew existed, and saw a market. But much like I expected, no fresh produce. There were tables set up with different people selling things like granola, decorated cookies, spices, cheeses, and JAM! You may be wondering why I wrote the word jam in capital letters...well, let me tell you... I recently found a recipe for little jam filled heart cookies that I wanted to try out, and I had found one of the key ingredients! I did have regular, brand name jam in my refrigerator at home, but the delicious, real fruit taste of this homemade jam was too good to pass up.

I decided to buy the sugar free strawberry jam, because it was extremely sweet, fresh, and tasted like real strawberries.

Here is the jam I bought:

This jam was delicious! If you would like to buy some, follow the web address on the jar! The company is out of Plymouth, MA. 

I paid my 5 dollars and clutched my jam tightly the whole way home. I have never been more excited to buy a jar of jam in my life! The jam sat on my counter all week just waiting to be used in the delicious cookies, and today it finally fulfilled its destiny.

In the cookbook I have, the cookies are called Jammie Bodgers, but I hate that name. I have never heard the word bodger in my life, so I decided to cut it out and just call them Jammies! The word jammies reminds me of my mom, because that is what she calls pajamas. So this new name makes me happy =)

So here you go: Jammies!

Dice up 3/4 cup of unsalted butter (1 and 1/2 sticks). 

Add the butter to 2 cups of flour in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 

Then add 1 egg yolk and 2/3 cup sugar. Process until this resembles a dough. 

If you do not know how to separate an egg yolk from the white, watch this video to learn! 

Here is what the dough should look like! 

After the mixture resembles a dough, dump it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it forms a dough ball. 

Cover the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

 After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is all one thickness. Then use whatever cookie cutter you would like. I wanted circular cookies, but do not own a circular cookie cutter, so I used the top of the the cup in the picture. It worked wonderfully! 

Once you cut out all the cookies, remove the surrounding dough carefully. 

Then use a smaller cookie cutter to punch a design in the center of half of the cookies. In honor of Valentine's Day (which is on Monday), I decided to use a heart. Once the heart is cutout, carefully use either a spatula or a dough cutter (which I used) to remove the pieces from each other. 

You will need an even number of cookies, half with hearts cut out and half that are complete. You will be making sandwiches, so you need a mate for each cookie. 

Place all the cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You want the tops to be slightly golden. 

Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool. They should look like the ones below. 

 I made very large cookies, so I only had 6 sandwiches total. (12 sides + 1 extra that we ate by itself). If you made smaller cookies, like the recipe said to, you would have many more cookies. 

Once the cookies are completely cooled, you can assemble them. Make sure you let them cool, because if you do not, the frosting will melt and make a big mess! 

While you are waiting for the cookies to cool, you can make the buttercream icing! 

In a bowl, mix 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 a stick), 1 cup powdered sugar (also called confectioners' sugar), 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of milk. With a hand mixer, mix until it looks like icing. That's it! The buttercream icing is done and you're ready to assemble your cookies!

Begin by frosting the sides without the hearts cut out. You should completely cover the inside of the cookie in buttercream. (Remember you are making sandwiches, so don't frost the tops!)

Next, place about one spoonful of jam on the cookie. Spread out until it covers the entire inside of the cookie. 

Last, place the other cookie on top and press down lightly. There you go, your jammy is done! 

Let sit for about 30-45 minutes to let the jam set a bit. 

The cookies were delicious! The combination of the lightly sweet cookie, the fruity jam, and the buttercream icing is perfect! 

I brought each of my 3 cousins a cookie to try, and with full mouths, they all gave me overwhelming approval! It sounded something like "mmm....so good....mmmm" =) 

Jammies (Written Recipe) 

Ingredients: 

Cookie Dough: 

2 cups flour

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

Buttercream Icing: 

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk 

Filling: 

Strawberry Jam 

1. Put the flour and butter in a food process. Process until it resembles bread crumbs. Then add the egg yolk and the sugar. Process until it resembles a dough. 

2. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead into a ball. Cover the ball with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 

3. After 30 minutes, remove and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out until the dough is all one thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 12 cookies (more if your cutter is smaller than mine was). Use a different cookie cutter to punch out shapes in the center of half of the cookies. 

4. Carefully place all the cookies onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the tops look slightly golden. Then remove from the oven and let cool. 

5. Combine all the ingredients for the buttercream in a bowl. Use a hand mixer to mix until it looks like frosting. 

6. Once cookies are cool, assemble. Frost the halves that do not have shape punched out. Then place 1 spoonful of jam in the center. Top with the other cookie (with the shape punched out). Press down lightly. Let sit for 30-45 minutes. Then enjoy!