Tuesdays With Dorie: Buttery Jam Cookies

This week’s recipe was selected by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl.  Thank you Heather – this is a really tasty cookie that I probably wouldn’t have tried on my own.  This recipe and the others this month helped me get out of my “cookie rut.”

What I did: I used apricot jam, which was very good paired with the ginger. I wondered if using the same jam in these cookies and in the Linzer Sables would be too much of the same, but the two cookies are very different, and the jam is mixed into these, so it worked out great.

How it went: These were easy to make, and no planning ahead because the dough doesn’t need to refrigerate before baking. They baked up nicely.  They don’t change shape very much during baking, so they aren’t the most beautiful cookies I’ve seen. A cookie scoop might improve their appearance. The bottoms got really dark even though they didn’t seem overbaked. This happened to other bakers too, so I don’t feel so bad about it : )  Usually when this happens, I’ll lower the oven temperature the next time.  I baked them on a Silpat and now I’m wondering about using that vs. using parchment vs. just putting them on the cookie sheet. Back in the day, I always put cookies right on the sheet and they turned out just fine!

How it tasted: The dough was really good, and I thought the finished cookies tasted best the day after I baked them. Perhaps the ginger needed a day to mellow out? They were really tasty, and I agree with Dorie’s suggestion to have them with a cup of tea (not that I did that, but I agree it’s a good idea!).  The ginger flavor is subtle and the apricot pieces are a nice touch. These really grew on me after eating a few.

Would I make this again?:  Maybe. What I liked best about them was the tender, cakey texture. Although I like the taste of ginger, I don’t know how often I’d make ginger cookies.  I found myself wishing that they had coconut in them – tender, cakey coconut cookies. Mmmmm.  These wouldn’t win a beauty contest (at least not the ones I made), so if I was going to take them somewhere, I’d see about sprucing them up a bit:  maybe some sugar on top or a drizzle of frosting would dress them up a bit.