Empire Cookies

My boss at work is getting married! He took us out to lunch today at the University of Toronto Faculty Club where we gave him a framed photo of our work team, a scarf, and Empire Cookies (which he had sent me an email about long ago to make).

Empire cookies are pretty much sandwiched sugar cookies with jam, icing, and a candied cherry bit.

This recipe makes 12 regular sized sandwiched cookies. I had a large cutter so it only made 8.
Sugar Cookie Recipe (from Anna Olson):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp icing sugar, sifted
• 1 hard-boiled large egg yolk
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups cake and pastry flour, sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing and Middle:

• 1/3 cup raspberry jam
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1-2 Tbsp warm water
• 1/4 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
• 6-8 glacée (candied) cherries, each chopped into 6 bits

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

In a large bowl, combine your unsalted butter and sifted icing sugar.

 Beat until nice and fluffy, about 30 seconds to a minute.

Boil one egg and separate your second egg. Drop in your egg yolk from the separated egg. (Tip: you can freeze the egg white providing that you don't touch it too much and keep it for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container! Perfect for macarons)

Scoop out your hard-boiled egg yolk and push it through a sift.

Beat this all together on medium for a minute or two to combine.

Push your dough into a shape of a ball, wrap it up, and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Sugar cookies are especially hard to deal with when warm because of their high butter content (think warm butter, it melts!). You can also make the dough the night before, put it in the fridge, and roll it out the next day. Makes for more manageable cookies!

After it's been in the fridge for a while, roll your dough out. You want it to be rolled out to about a 1/4 of an inch's thickness. Any thinner and the butter will start melting when you touch it. 

A big tip for sugar cookie dough - touch it as little as possible. I've always had a lot of difficulty trying to cut shapes and move it onto a tray because the moment i try to pick it up, it droops and the shape is lost.

Using a cookie cutter (or other circle object), bake your cookies about an inch apart for 10-12 minutes until just golden brown at the edges. Be sure to let them sit for at least 20 minutes before you touch them to assemble. They're very delicate straight out of the oven and I actually cracked one trying to move it when it was warm. 

Once cooled completely, grab a jam and spread it out in the middle. Gently sandwich your cookies together.

For the icing, combine the icing sugar, water, and vanilla extract. Whisk or beat it until mixed. Spread a thin layer onto your cookies.

For your candied cherry, I suggest drying it on a paper towel before placing on top of your cookie. I didn't dry mine very well and they turned the icing a little red.

Let the cookies dry for 2-3 hours before placing into an airtight container. You can freeze them overnight to keep them fresh for up to 3 days.

Photos from our lunch:

Olive oil & balsamic vinegar

Mac and Cheese with Smoked Salmon!

Thanks for coming by! Enjoy.

- Jane