eaten: Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Lately I have been craving buttery, sweet things. I need my savory mixed in there. I have also been craving certain textures like crunchy, crispy, flaky cookies. A shortbread cookie definitely fits the bill. These were so good. I made them for my centering group through the midwifery and they were a huge hit. We ate all of them plus I ate all the ones that turned out kind of ugly. 

The dough was easy to put together but I thought it was a little grainy to roll into the balls. Mine were not as pretty as the picture shows. Maybe next time the dough will be easier to work with. I think I also made my cookies too big as I made a 1.5 batch and it only made 36 cookies. I'm glad I made the extra dough or we wouldn't have had enough for the group. No biggie but just a heads up. 

Oh and I forgot to sprinkle them with sugar before baking and I couldn't even tell so you could probably skip that step too. 

Make these though, they are delicious!

Raspberry-almond shortbread cookies

yield: 36 cookies

prep time: 30 minutes, chill 1 hr

cook time: 10 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
sugar for sprinkling
1 cup powdered sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl beat butter medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the the 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Beat until well combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with electric mixer and then using a wooden spoon stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam into each indentation and then sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.

3. For icing, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon water and 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract. Add enough of the remaining water to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing.

Picture and recipe from Parentpretty