I know it’s so hot the hens are laying hard-boiled eggs, but with raspberries in season, making these cookies is really worth turning on the oven.

And besides, they look SOOOOOO Fourth of July…

Being the High Strung over-achiever that I am, I made the butter cookies AND the jam. But wait… before you roll your eyes, you’ve must know that I’ve never made jam before. Jelly, jam, preserves… all that stuff is kind of intimidating, what with having to boil jars and all.

I knew I didn’t want to do all of that (I’m not THAT ambitious), so I just made a small amount… enough for the cookies and some leftover for pancakes this weekend. I’m glad I did. I’ve never tasted jam this fresh and bursting with raspberry flavor.

But YOU don’t have to make your own jam. Make the butter cookies and then spread some jarred raspberry jam, preserves or jelly in between the cookie layers. Your cookies will be delicious.

Happy Fourth and stay safe!

Raspberry Jam Cookies

prep: 30 minutes
cook: 30 minutes
bake: 10 minutes

for the jam you’ll need…
2 cups raspberries
1½ cups sugar
a jelly or candy thermometer
a strainer

for the cookies you’ll need…
2½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ lb. (2 sticks) butter (soft, but still cold) cut into ½-inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons cream cheese, soft
¼ cup powdered sugar

let’s get to it… first the jam:
Crush the raspberries in a large pot with a potato masher.
Cook on medium high for 10 minutes, stirring often, but try not to slosh the sides.
Stir in the sugar and bring to a boil. Cook until the temperature registers 220°F on the thermometer. Remove from heat.
Strain the raspberry liquid into another pot. Discard the seeds. Heat liquid on medium and cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.

now the cookies…
Mix the flour, sugar and salt on low speed in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the butter, one piece at a time. The mixture will look crumbly when ready.
Add the vanilla and cream cheese and mix until the dough starts forming large clumps.
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead 2 or 3 times on a clean cutting board or countertop. Spit the dough in half, shape into a disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle.
Unwrap one dough disk and place between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Roll out dough between parchment paper until it is about ⅛-inch thick. Remove top piece of parchment paper and set aside. Place bottom piece of parchment paper with dough on a cookie sheet.
Cut rolled out dough into an even number of desired shapes (I used a star cookie cutter) about 1-inch apart. Cut out the center of half of the cookies with a smaller cookie cutter (this will be the top of your cookie sandwich… I used a small heart cookie cutter). Remove cut-out piece and set aside. Carefully peel away excess dough from cut out cookies on parchment paper and set aside (you can roll this dough into more cookies).
Bake on parchment paper for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are light brown. Remove from oven and cool.
Repeat with remaining dough.
Cool the cookies completely. Spread jam on top of the solid cookie. Place the cut out cookie on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let the cookies set at least 20 minutes... if you can resist!