Three more weeks until the end of the year. In this very busy period of the year, these little pink gems will be the perfect adornment for your Christmas platter. Egg-free, of course, and really easy to make, plus, they store really well, so you can bake them up before the big day. Feel free to mix colours for a more effective presentation, if you wish. You can also use a jam in the same colour, or even in a contrasting one. Make sure you choose a tangy jam, to compliment the flavour of the shortbread cookie.
Ingredients
150 grams butter
150 grams icing sugar
few drops of pink food colouring, optional
100 grams desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons cornflour (corn starch)
4 tablespoons freeze dried raspberries, crushed and sifted
250 grams plain flour
4 tablespoons vanilla yoghurt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
150 grams thick jam, preferably tangy jam
Preparation
Take a large bowl, add in the butter, and the icing sugar, and beat with an electric mixer on low, until lighter in colour and very creamy. Add in the food colouring (if using), and blend it well on low. Add in the desiccated coconut, cornflour, freeze dried raspberries, and yoghurt, and blend very well, until uniform in colour, and smooth. Sift in the flour and the baking powder, and combine everything together with a wooden spoon. You can use an electric mixer on low, but the batter is quite thick, so the wooden spoon works best.
Wrap the dough in cling film, and place it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes, so the dough can rest and firm up. After the dough has chilled, dust the work surface with plain flour, and roll the dough out carefully, to the thickness of about 5 millimetres. Using a small cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough, and arrange them on a large cookie sheet, lined with baking paper. Bake them in a preheated oven, at 180°C (350°F), for 8 minutes.
After baking, let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then carefully remove them to a wire rack, and let them cool completely. Sandwich the cookies with the jam of your choice (I used my homemade Bourbon peach jam), and serve. Yields 25 sandwich cookies.
Baker's note: You can dust them with icing sugar just before serving, if you wish.