Shortbread-style jam sandwich cookies are my favourite cookies to make! The perfect cookie to give away at Christmas, Valentine's, Easter, or even for no reason at all. I often make these jam sandwich cookies with homemade jam, but when pressed for time store-bought jam works just as well.
How to Make Shortbread Style Jam Sandwich Cookies
The process for making jam sandwich cookies is pretty simple, especially if you choose not to make your own jam. The cookies are started off by creaming the butter and sugar together. This is done with the help of an electric mixer. The butter shouldn’t be straight from the fridge, nor should it be at room temperature. A happy medium between the two is best for this recipe.
Once creamed, the egg, followed by the yolk is added. Whenever adding eggs be sure to wait between each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again. This ensures that the mixture is beating evenly. Continue mixing at medium to high speed. This is done so that the butter and the eggs can emulsify properly before the dry ingredients are added.
The vanilla and flour are then added to the cookie mixture. At this stage keep a keen eye on this mixture and stop the motor from running once the cookie mixture comes together. Do not over mix the cookie dough. Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough for about an hour.
The main reason why the dough rests is that chilled dough is much easier to handle and shape than dough that comes straight from the mixer. I shape my dough in a disc rather than a ball, which makes it easier to roll!
Tips for Making the Perfect Jam Sandwich Cookies
This is a simple recipe for shortbread style jam sandwich cookies but as with most baking recipes, there are a few things you can watch out for.
- Use an oven thermometer to accurately set the temperature of the oven. Cookies are very sensitive to high temperatures. And to avoid burnt on the bottom and raw on the top cookies make sure you have set your oven correctly.
- Prepare the oven trays properly before placing the cookies onto the trays. Use quality baking paper to ensure that the cookies do not stick to the pan.
- Do not over mix the cookies at the creaming stage. You want the sugar and butter to be well mixed, but not overmixed. Meaning that you don’t want the butter to appear to be splitting.
- Once the flour is added, keep an eye on the mixture to ensure that it does not overmix. You want to stop the mixture just as the dough comes together but not so soon that there are dry crumbly bits at the bottom of the bowl.
- Roll out your dough on a floured surface, this helps the dough from sticking. Flip the dough often when rolling this ensures that both sides are floured and helps to make sure that you are rolling out the dough evenly.
- If your dough is sticky and hard to work with, put it back in the fridge to firm up
- When placing the cookies on the baking sheets be sure to space them properly. If they are too close together, they might bake into each other.
- Wait for the cookies to cool down before filling them with jam. If the cookies are too hot the jam will become runny and mess out the sides of the jam sandwich cookie.
How to Roll and Cut Cookies
My preferred way to roll out cookie dough is on a large floured cutting board. If you do not have a cutting board large enough, then clean and flour your kitchen counter. Flour the top of the dough as well as the rolling pin and press lightly on the dough with the rolling pin rolling upwards.
Throughout the process of rolling, I continue to flip my dough to ensure that both sides are floured. This also helps with rolling out an even thickness throughout the dough. If at any stage the dough becomes hard to handle, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge. It is much easier to shape the perfect jam sandwich cookie with well-behaved chilled cookie dough.
Which Jam to use in Shortbread Style Jam Sandwich Cookies
The first question you need to ask is, do I want to make my own jam!? Making jam is time-consuming, but it is a great way to use up overripe fruit or to test your skills at making edible gifts! Think about buying a kilo of seasonal fruit from your local farm or market and use this to inspire the jam-making! I like to pair fruits with spices like cloves and cinnamon for Christmas or vanilla beans for a special summer jam.
Once you understand the basics of jam-making the options are endless. If you’d like to learn how to make your own jam here is a link to a recipe for Clemengold Jam, that will walk you through the process!
If you are a little worried about sterilizing jam jars or not quite sure what jam scum is, buy some! For this recipe, I used homemade Clemengold jam but store-bought strawberry, raspberry, cherry or even fig works just as well.
Ingredients Needed for a Jam Sandwich Cookie Recipe
This recipe for shortbread-style jam sandwich cookies uses fresh, easy-to-find ingredients! The ingredients you need for this recipe are
- Unsalted Butter
- Cake Flour
- Castor Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Jam
Should I Keep Jam Sandwich Cookies in the Fridge?
When storing these cookies, I prefer to keep them at room temperature. They don’t last long in our kitchen so within a few days they’re gone! If you will be keeping your cookies for longer, store them in the fridge. And if you would like to crisp them up, pop them in a preheated oven for a few minutes and allow them to cool before serving.
Can I Freeze Jam Sandwich Cookies?
If you are looking to have a sweet treat ready to go, I don’t suggest freezing jam sandwich cookies after you have filled them with jam. Freshly baked cookies or biscuits are always best. Because of this I would rather freeze the unbaked dough, defrost, roll and bake it when I wanted fresh cookies.
Alternatively, one could bake the cookie rounds, and freeze them after baking and cooling. To ensure the cookies don’t stick together when freezing, freeze them with layers of baking paper in between the rows. Or freeze them lying flat and once frozen add them to a container or bag.
I hope you give this recipe a try, I really have lost count of the number of times I have made these shortbread style jam sandwich cookies! Let me know in the comments below what you thought of the recipe or tag me in your creations on Instagram.
Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Shortbread Style Jam Sandwich Cookies with ClemenGold Jam
Ingredients
- 200 grams unsalted butter
- 100 grams castor sugar
- 350 grams plain cake flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon ClemenGold Zest, optional
- ¾ cup ClemenGold jam, or alternative
- icing sugar, optional
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. This should take about 5 minutes, scrape down the sides of the bowl often to ensure that the ingredients are mixing evenly.
- Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again at medium speed.
- Add the egg yolk and mix to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again. Continue mixing for a further 2 minutes at high speed until the mixture is emulsified.
- Add the vanilla and zest (if using) and mix again.
- Add the flour and salt at once and mix until just combined, do not over mix.
- Remove the cookie dough from the bowl and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Depending on the size of your cookies you may need to bake the cookies in batches.
- On a floured surface, roll out the cookie dough to a thickness of 5mm. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough, remembering to keep the bottom cookie full and the top cookie with a further cutout to show the jam.
- Place the cookies on the baking trays and bake in a preheated oven for about 15minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden in colour.
- Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven and allow the cookies to cool. Sandwich the cookies together with jam and lighly dust them with icing sugar. Serve and enjoy!
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