Vampire Cookies

These are fun cookies for Halloween or a vampire genre party.The cookies have a light vanilla and butter flavor to them, and are the perfect color to really set off the red of the filling. The have a slightly crisp edge and a soft, chewy center. When you take a bite and expose the jam, they really do look like they’re bleeding! They are baked at a slightly cooler temperature than some cookies, so they don’t really brown during baking. Best if served the same day. I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Baking Bites.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 24
• Yields: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  almond extract
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup  red  jam (raspberry or strawberry)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.
3. Beat in egg and extracts.
4. Add flour and salt to the bowl and mix them into the butter-sugar mixture at low speed until dough is just combined.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
6. Divide dough in half and keep the portion you are not using in the refrigerator.
7. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8-inch thick.
8. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 2-inch rounds.
9. Place rounds on a baking sheet, put a teaspoon of jam on each of them and cover with another round of dough. Press edges down lightly, pinching the edges onto the cookie sheet.
10. Use a toothpick and poke two small holes (like a vampire bite) in the top of each cookie.
11. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set.
12. Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Dip a toothpick in some extra red jam and re-insert in the “bite” holes you made before baking to emphasize them, if not already red. Draw a blood trickle down from one of the bites with the jam, if desired.
14. Cookies are best the day they are made.