Polish Filled Cookies

247. A favorite cookie at Christmas is the Polish Filled Cookies. Light cream cheese and butter pastry with a sweet bite of jam. This recipe has been a very reliable one for me for many years. You can fill these pastries with any type of fruit preserve or jam.

The apricot preserves worked beautifully and tasted delicious. The fruit in preserves is thicker and has more fruit pieces.

Whereas the raspberry jam has more of a tendency to liquify and has less fruit bits.

This recipe calls for an egg wash to wipe on the tips of the joining edges. This is very smart to do. When I wouldn't use the egg wash the cookies would burst open during the baking process. The egg wash seals the edges together.

Makes 64 small cookies 2 1/2" size.

Polish Filled Cookies (recipe here)

2 stick(s) (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

Filling: about 1 cup canned ready-to-use fruit and/or nut pastry, cake or dessert filling

Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 tsp cold water

Decoration: confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
2. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour, beating just until dough comes together.
3. Divide in quarters; shape each portion into a 1-in.-thick square with even edges.
4. Wrap each airtight; refrigerate at least 1-1/2 hours or until firm.
5. Heat oven to 350°F. Have baking sheet(s) ready.
6. Tear off a 12-in. sheet of wax paper.
7. Working quickly, generously sprinkle wax paper with flour and top with 1 square of dough (keep rest refrigerated); dust dough with flour. With a rolling pin, roll dough to a 10-in. square (see Tip). Cut in sixteen 2-1/2-in. squares, making 3 evenly spaced cuts horizontally and vertically. Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon filling in middle of each square. Lightly dab egg wash onto 2 opposite corners, bring corners together over center of filling and pinch to adhere.
8. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are golden. Immediately remove to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Store airtight with wax paper between layers at cool room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

This is a beautiful recipe. It may be tedious but the time and effort spent are worth it.

"On an exhausted field, only weeds grow."

Polish quote ~ Henryk Sienkiewicz