Fruity Pillow Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and smooth. Scrape the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Beat again until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add the dry mixture into the butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and beat until just mixed through.

Measure out ½ lb. of dough (a little over a ¼ of the batch) into a separate bowl. Refrigerate the larger amount of dough.

Add the thick (not runny) jam to the smaller amount of dough. Add a few drops of food coloring. Mix until the color is distributed evenly.

Place the “fruity” dough in the fridge to chill. (It’s much more important for THIS dough to be cold than the vanilla dough, so leave it in for at least 30 minutes.)

Meanwhile, roll the vanilla dough into 1 tablespoon-sized balls. On a floured work surface, press the balls flat with the palm of your hand.

Scoop 1 teaspoon of fruity dough on top of each vanilla dough circle. Pinch up the sides of the circle until the filling is completely enclosed.

Flip the dough balls over, so that the pinched sides are down. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in sugar and gently press the dough balls down to ½ – ¾ inch disks.

Repeat with the rest.

Place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Then allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 3–5 minutes before moving.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Note: I like using raspberry jam and lemon curd the best!