Bread Machine (215 page)

There are a multitude of desserts that use thick jam as an ingredient, including many varieties of cookies. Here are two of the all-time favorites. They are easy and elegant.

Granny’s Jammies

Makes about 312 dozen cookies

Every Christmas my boyfriend’s grandmother presented each of us with a tinful of these soft butter cookies made with her homemade jam.

1
¹
/
₂
cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

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/
₄
teaspoon almond extract

3
³
/
₄
cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¹
/
₄
teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberry or other jam

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease or line with parchment paper 2 baking sheets.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in the egg yolks and extracts. Stir in the flour and salt. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Place 1
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/
₂
inches apart on the prepared pans.

Using your thumb, press a deep indentation into the center of each ball, spreading out the round of dough. Bake for 8 minutes, just until set. Remove the pan from the oven and fill each indentation with a rounded teaspoon of jam. Continue baking for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until light golden brown and the jelly is slightly melted. Transfer immediately to a rack to cool completely. Store the cookies in a single layer in an airtight tin.

Cream Cheese Pockets

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

The dough for these pockets is incredibly easy to handle. It can be filled with any flavor of thick jam or preserve you choose.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¹
/
₄
cup confectioners’ sugar

¹
/
₂
teaspoon salt

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups thick homemade jam or preserves, such as apricot or raspberry

1 cup sifted plain or
vanilla confectioners’ sugar

In the workbowl of a food processor, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and flour. Process until the dough just forms a ball. Divide the dough into three equal portions, flatten each portion into a disc, and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease or line with parchment paper 2 baking sheets.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out with a rolling pin until it is
¹
/
₈
inch thick. Cut the dough into 2
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/
₂
-inch squares. Place a dab of jam in the center of each. Bring two opposite corners up and pinch to seal them over the center. Place the pockets 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Bake the cookies until light golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes; they will look a bit underdone, but will crisp as they cool. When cool, dust with confectioners’ sugar.

RHUBARB JAM       
Makes about 1
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/
₂
cups jam

A
rhubarb patch is always part of an old-fashioned fruit and vegetable garden. My friend Bob, who grew up in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border, remembers his mother making plenty of rhubarb jam every spring from juicy bundles of stems gathered in a neighbor’s yard. The plant has long, red stalks—the edible part—and large leaves, but the leaves are poisonous. This jam is delicious on whole wheat toast or biscuits.

1
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/
₂
- OR 2-POUND-LOAF MACHINES

1 pound rhubarb stalks, sliced about
¹
/
₂
inch thick (2 cups)

1
¹
/
₂
cups sugar

Half of a 1.75- to 2-ounce box powdered fruit pectin

¹
/
₄
cup chopped dried apricots

Mix the rhubarb with the sugar in a glass bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.

Combine the rhubarb-sugar mixture, the pectin, and the apricots in the bread pan.