Eat Like a Princess - Merida - Empire Cookies

Empire Cookies

Ingredients

Cookie

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups cake and pastry flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup raspberry jam
• Candied cherries or red icing (optional)

Icing

• 1 cup sifted icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp hot water, approximate

Candied Cherries

16 oz jar maraschino cherries

1/4 cup juice reserved from cherries

3/4 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Reserve 1/4 cup cherry juice in small bowl. Discard remaining juice from cherries. Remove stems. Set aside in small bowl. 
2. In a medium saucepan, combine reserved juice and sugar, cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved 2-3 minutes whisking intermittently. 
3. Add cherries and bring to boil. 
4. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook to soft ball stage on a candy thermometer 234-240 °F (112-116 °C) about 45-55 min. 
5. Remove from heat when cherries are firm. Cool to room temp. 
6. In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy.
7. Beat in egg and vanilla.
8. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
9. Stir into butter mixture in 3 additions.
10. Shape the dough into a disc (it will be very soft).
11. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge until firm, about 2 hours.
12. On a lightly floured work surface, gently knead the dough just to soften it slightly.
13. Roll out the dough to approximately ¼-inch thick and cut out cookies using a 2-inch cookie cutter.
14. Place the cookies on the baking trays, leaving ½-inch between them.
15. Bake in a 350°F oven until edges are light golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on racks.
16. While your cookies are baking and cooling, you can now make the icing topping. In small bowl, stir icing sugar with almond extract; drizzle in enough of the water to make spreadable icing.
17. Once your cookies are cooled, stir the raspberry jam to soften and spread a little on a cookie bottom.
18. Sandwich a second cookie on top, pressing gently to secure. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
19. Spread your icing on top of each cookie sandwich.
20. Top with a candied cherry. 
21. Let cookies stand until set, about 1 hour.
22. Serve and enjoy!