Pomegranate Jam Hearts

Yes, I know.  It’s been a while.  Not because I don’t love you guys, but because Chris and I have been traveling to and from LA and Toronto visiting family during our spring vacation.  Not only have we been busy, but we haven’t really had an opportunity to cook.

We do have lots of ideas that we’ve garnered from our travels, so expect some new bursts of creativity on this site within the next few weeks.  I’ve stolen a bunch of new ideas from my mother-in-law, Karola, that I can’t wait to show you all =).

In the meantime, I helped my mother-in-law to make these spectacular Valentine cookies.  Check them out.  Aren’t they just lovely?  Just like little lace-edged Valentines.  They’re almost too pretty to eat, but I bet they’ll go fast.  And they’re good too – buttery cookie, sweet pom jam…what’s not to like?

By the way, that beautiful white plate up there is a true antique.  It’s about 100 years old, and it belonged to Karola’s grandmother in Germany.  Pretty cool huh?   I’m hoping that someday Chris and I will be able to pass on some family traditions (as well as, hopefully, a few sentimental mementos) to our kids.

Pomegranate Jam Hearts
I really don’t know where this comes from.  It was passed on through a colleague of my mother-in-law’s.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
6 tbsp pomegranate jelly

Sift the flour and salt and set aside.

Combine butter and sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Ad vanilla and almond extracts and stir till well blended.  Add dry ingredients and mix until dough comes together.

Divide dough in half and gather each half into a ball.  Flatten into disks, wrap in plastic, and place in fridge for about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Take out one ball of dough at a time.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick (I found this much easier between two sheets of plastic).  Loosen dough from surface using a spatula.  Using a heart shaped 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut out 24 hearts.  In 12 of the hearts, cut out a small heart-shaped hole using a 1 inch cutter.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack until edges are light brown, about 12-15 minutes.  After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Spread about a teaspoon of jam on the 12 hole-less cookies.  Sift the cutout cookies with confectioner’s sugar.  Place the cutout cookies on top of the jam to make 12 jam cookie sandwiches.

Any extra dough can be used for sugar dusted cookies.