Valentine's Cranberry Sauce Sandwich Cookies
By: Nicole Hood
Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 12:23pm

Ingredients




2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 egg, plus 1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 carton (14 oz) Pioneer brand organic Cranberry Sauce
1 tsp orange zest
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
powered sugar, for dusting

Preparation

1 In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, and salt. 2 Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 3 Beat in the egg and yolk and then the vanilla. 4 Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. 5 Shape the dough into 3 balls and then flatten each into disks and wrap in waxed paper.  Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. 6 Heat oven to 350 degrees. 7 Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 8 Dust 1 dough disk with flour and place between 2 large sheets of waxed paper. 9 Roll out the dough to desired thickness, I did about 1/4 inch thick. 10 Use a shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Using a smaller cutter, cut out the centers of half the cookies (optional). Work fast before the dough gets too soft! 11 Re roll the scraps and fold in waxed paper and refrigerate for another 10-20 minutes and then use again once hardened. 12 Transfer the cookies to the baking sheet and bake until the edges of the cookies are golden, about 10 minutes. 13 Transfer to wire racks to cool. Repeat with the remaining 2 disks, then roll out, cut, chill, and bake the scraps in the same manner. 14 Dust the cutout tops with powdered sugar. 15 Open container of cranberry sauce and pour in a small saucepan. 16 Heat over low and stir until broken up. 17 Add orange zest and mix until spreadable and mostly smooth. 18 Optional: if you want the cranberry sauce sweeter (If you are using a brand like Pacific that does not add any additional sweeteners) add 1 tbsp sugar and mix until dissolved. 19 Spread the cranberry sauce on the bottoms of half of the cookies, spreading it lightly at the edges. Top with the remaining powdered sugar dusted cookies. 20 Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

About

This cookie is sweet and crunchy and the simple filling using cranberry sauce and orange zest is both sweet, tart, and absolutely delicious