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Cookies: Apricot Shortbread Sandwiches

Source of Recipe

fooddownunder.com


List of Ingredients

COOKIE DOUGH
1 cup soft unsalted butter
1 cup Unsifted confectioners' sugar
2 lrg Egg yolks
2 1/3 cup All purpose bleached flour

FINISHING
2 tbl Confectioners' sugar
1 cup Apricot jam


Recipe

* 1. In a mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer set at medium speed until soft and light. Beat in sugar and continue beating until sugar is completely incorporated. Beat in yolks, one at a time, beating smooth between each addition, scraping bowl and beaters occasionally. Sift flour over butter and egg mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula, making sure flour is completely absorbed.

* 2. Stretch a piece of plastic wrap on a plate or cookie sheet and scrape dough onto wrap. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and press dough into a 10-inch square, about 1/2-inch thick. Chill dough until firm, about 2 hours.

* 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover 2 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment or foil. Divide dough into quarters and remove one quarter at a time from refrigerator to roll.

* 4. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and lightly flour dough.

* Pound dough gently with rolling pin to soften it and roll dough to an 8-inch square about 3 1/6-inch thick. Cut dough into rounds with a plain 1 3/4 to 2-inch cutter. Arrange rounds on pans, about 1-inch apart, as they are cut. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, refrigerating scraps between each rolling. After all the dough has been rolled and cut, press scraps together and re-roll them to make more cookie bases.

* 5. Count bases and make a hole in half the bases with a cutter or pastry tube in the center of each. Place pans of cookies in oven and immediately lower temperature to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies about 20 minutes, until they are pale golden and firm. Cool on pans on racks.

* 6. To finish cookies, lightly dust the pierced cookie bases with confectioners' sugar. Arrange unpierced bases, upside down, on a clean pan.

* Bring jam to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat and strain; allow jam to reduce for a minute or two, until slightly thickened. Gently spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of jam on each unpierced base, spreading it to within 1/8-inch of the edge. Top with pierced cookies. Place remaining jam in a small plastic bag and force it into one corner. Snip a small hole in the corner and squeeze a drop of jam into each opening in tops of cookies.

* Allow jam to dry.

* 7. To store, arrange cookies in layers with wax parchment paper between in an airtight container.