There was a craft fair in Rawlins a week or two ago, at which I got caramel apple jam and chocolate strawberry jam from some local-in-Wyoming-distances people. I wasn’t actually sure what to do with them, until I remembered these cookies, the best way to use up good jam flavors. (Technically you can do date or poppy seed filling, but WHY?)

The dark one is chocolate strawberry jam, as I finished the jar of caramel apple at the end.

The cookie part itself is just lightly sweet, and nicely crisp. You use an egg wash, both inside and out, which a) helps the cookie stay together, and b) gives it a nice shine on the outside. As you can see, none of mine fell apart/open while cooking, so I think the egg wash is worth the extra couple of seconds.

Bon Appétit cautions to make sure the dough has warmed back to room temperature before you fold it, to prevent cracking. I found that just by being rolled thin, the dough’s surface area gets so big that it very quickly warms up to room temp, and you shouldn’t need to be overly cautious.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• approximately 1 1/2 cups of your favorite flavored jam

Stir together the baking powder, salt, and flour in a medium bowl, then set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add two of the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined.

Split the dough in half, form into balls, then flatten into two 3/4″ thick disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to 2 days.

Arrange oven racks in top and bottom thirds of the oven. Line two (or more if you have them) baking sheets with parchment. Let 1 disk of dough sit at room temperature until slightly softened, about half an hour (I didn’t find it took that long). Depending on how fast your roll and assemble, you can preheat your oven to 350 now, or wait until you’re a bit closer to ready.

When you are ready to start rolling out the first disk of dough, you can take the second disk out of the fridge so it is ready when you get to it.

Roll out the first disk to 1/4″ thick on a very lightly floured surface. Using a 3 1/2″ cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer them to your prepared sheets using a spatula. Re-roll the scraps as needed to use up the rest.

No cookie cutter? No problem!

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Brush the edges of several of the dough circles, then place about 1 1/2 teaspoons of jam in the center. Don’t go too heavy, or they may not hold together well when baking. Fold up the edges into 3 sides and pinch into a triangle, leaving an opening over the filling, and being sure to pinch the corners so no jam oozes out while they cook. Brush the outside edges with egg wash. Repeat with remaining dough rounds.

When your two trays are ready, bake 18-22 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown on the bottoms. While they cook, you can prepare the remaining disk of dough, if you have enough pans to place them on.

Let the cookies cool on the sheets. Although the jam stops bubbling quickly, remember it was just boiling moments ago, and can still wreck the inside of your mouth if you eat it immediately!

And there you go! All prepared for Purim (which is… in the spring?) or any time you find a good looking new jam!

Hamantashen

From Bon Appétit.

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• approximately 1 1/2 cups of your favorite flavored jam

Stir together the baking powder, salt, and flour in a medium bowl, then set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add two of the eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined.

Split the dough in half, form into balls, then flatten into two 3/4″ thick disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to 2 days.

Arrange oven racks in top and bottom thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Let 1 disk of dough sit at room temperature until slightly softened, about half an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

When you are ready to start rolling out the first disk of dough, you can take the second disk out of the fridge so it is ready when you get to it.

Roll out the first disk to 1/4″ thick on a very lightly floured surface. Using a 3 1/2″ cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer them to your prepared sheets using a spatula. Re-roll the scraps as needed to use up the rest.

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Brush the edges of several of the dough circles, then place about 1 1/2 teaspoons of jam in the center. Fold up the edges into 3 sides and pinch into a triangle, leaving an opening over the filling, and being sure to pinch the corners so no jam oozes out while they cook. Brush the outside edges with egg wash. Repeat with remaining dough rounds.

When your two trays are ready, bake 18-22 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown on the bottoms. Repeat with second disk of dough.

Let the cookies cool on the sheets.