Christmas cookies

I have a real weakness for anything Raspberry, so I was thinking about making some Raspberry shortbread cookies. Sandwich cookies are about contrasts. Whether that means a contrast in flavors and/or textures. With these Raspberry White Chocolate Shortbread the contrast in flavors is wonderful; two buttery sweet cookies paired with a tangy sweet filling.

Shortbread ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup  powdered  sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Filling:

1/4 - 1/2 cup of raspberry jam or homemade raspberry preserves
2 ounces white chocolate, grated



Homemade Raspberry Preserves:

2 cups  frozen raspberries, unsweetened
1/4 cup  granulated white sugar

Directions

In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt.


In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 to 3 inch cookie cutter  cut out the dough. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a smaller cookie cutter  to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking sheet. (You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small 'window or cut out' in the top cookie so you can see the jam underneath.) Place the unbaked cookies, on the baking sheet, in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

To Assemble Cookies: Place the cookies with the cut-outs on a wire rack and dust the tops with the confectioners' sugar.

On the bottom surface of the full cookie (top of cookie will face out) spread with about a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Sprinkle with a little grated white chocolate. Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together, making sure not to smudge the confectioners' sugar. Using a small spoon, fill the cut-out with a little more jam.