Well, this sure was a HUGE surprise this year! I made these at Christmastime after not making them for years, and they turned out to be my hubby’s favorite out of every cookie and candy that I made! I could not believe it!

He didn’t even scoff for a sec that they were heart-shaped, either! I was afraid he’d think that they were too froo-froo, but he actually really loved these!

I’m not sure if I’m happy though, or not. Fair warning, they do take a bit of time to make and they only make 24. It’s a bit of work for that few….but I suppose he’s worth it. 😉 😀

I actually love to spoil him rotten, so yes, these will rejoin my holiday cookie tray, and even make a few special appearances throughout the year. 😉

I do enjoy making them, though, so I hope that I didn’t scare you off. Two dozen cookies is actually plenty for two people in our house, so it actually works out well for us. Besides, you can always make a double batch. 😉

I stuck to the same way I always used to make them, with strawberry jam, but you can use any flavor of jam, jelly or preserves that you enjoy.

You can decorate the edges any which way you’d like, too. When I was younger and had stronger teeth, I used to like to decorate the edges with a few of those “silver ball candies”, but those are just way too hard on my teeth now. But you can use those, or sprinkles, or nonpareils, or simply color sugar any color that you’d like as I did here. I just added a few drops of food coloring into a small bowl of sugar and stirred it until it was tinted the color that I wanted. You don’t have to buy that expensive stuff, homemade works just fine. 😉

You’ll love working with this dough, too. It always rolls out so nicely! I like to chill it overnight, and then let it sit out a bit before rolling. Make sure you flour your surface and your rolling pin, though, so it doesn’t stick, and you’ll have no trouble with this at all.

There really isn’t anything else to these, except that they’re just plain good. A simple cookie with a nice compliment of flavor from the jam. They stay a light pale color on top, but turn a light golden on the bottom, so be sure not to over bake these.

They’re always so very pretty looking, and you can cut them into any shape you desire, so long as it’s a basic shape. Remember, you’ll be pressing the edges all the way around with a fork, and a complicated design might be difficult to do.

So I hope that you can add these to your holiday trays, surprise the ones you love for Valentine’s Day, or just spoil the one you love out of the blue for no other reason than to let them know how special they are to you. 😉

Take care all and have a wonderful day! Until next time, ~Kelly

12 - 24 cookies depending on size

Strawberry Jam Tart Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
strawberry jam or preserves ( a little over 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup)
decorative candies or colored sugar for edges, optional

Instructions

In large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar.

Add egg and beat. Add milk and vanilla.

Add rest of ingredients and mix well.

Roll out dough to 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface and floured rolling pin. (*If humid, just use enough flour so that the dough isn't sticking.)

Cut the dough with solid shape cookie cutters such as hearts, christmas trees, etc.

With very small cookie cutter of same shape, cut out centers of half of the shapes. (The cut-out shapes go on top of the solid shapes).

Gather up bits of cut-out centers and excess dough and roll out again, repeating until all of the dough is used up.

Place whole shapes onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Top each cookie center with a rounded teaspoon or so of strawberry jam.

Place cookie shape with cut-out center on top.

Seal outside edges all the way around with tines of fork. Pressing to seal.

Sprinkle edges with candies or colored sugar.

Bake in 350° oven for 11-13 minutes.

*These cookies do not brown on top. Only the bottoms get lightly browned.