Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies

This recipe combines two very popular types of Christmas cookies – a spritz cookie and a thumbprint cookie! The base is slightly sweet and buttery and makes a great vessel for filling with a holiday-spiced homemade jam. Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies are slightly crumbly, but not dry, and paired with the spices in the jam, these cookies are extraordinarily special!

We all know that spritz cookies are one of the most popular and long-standing types of Christmas cookies. I’m in my 40s and I can remember them from when I was a kid. Although I have to say, I think the spritz cookie press has come a long way since the one that could be found in my mother’s 1970s kitchen drawer! Thankfully too, because these Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies need to be perfect to match their perfect taste!

The thumbprint cookie is no stranger to holiday baking either! I can honestly say that I don’t remember thumbprint cookies from my childhood. My earliest memory of a thumbprint cookie is from when I was 19 years old. I can pinpoint the exact time because I was sharing an apartment with my sister and we had become friends with a neighbour down the hall. She suggested we get together to bake Christmas cookies. One of those cookies was her version of these Rudolph’s Red Nose Cookies.

In this recipe, I am combining the simplicity of a spritz cookie with the genius of a thumbprint cookie. Depending on your spritz cookie press, you might not even need to indent a thumbprint into the dough. The press is usually sold with several discs for making different cookie designs.

I used a disc that looks like a flower. Flowers are not usually associated that much with Christmastime, but the first thing I thought of was poinsettias. In the end, my cookies looked nothing like poinsettias, but they are certainly cute, aren’t they!?

RECOMMENDATION, NOT AN ENDORSEMENT

Kitchen gadgets are not something that I own much of, and they’re certainly not something that I promote here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen, but I’m going to make an excuse for the cookie press.  The reason for this is simple – I think most of us bakers already have one readily available, and if you don’t, I encourage you to purchase one, because it makes baking cookies so easy and so pretty!

As badly as I’ve wanted one, I’ve often thought that it would be something I’d use once and never use it again.  I’ve also thought that the images of pressed cookies looked top damn perfect, and was of the mind that there was no way a cookie press could get cookies to look that precise and uniform.  I was wrong.  I can’t speak for all cookie presses, but the brand that I have – Marcato – works brilliantly and I couldn’t wait to break it in!

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 5

I’m so excited about this year’s cookie countdown! This is the fifth consecutive year; can you believe that? Each of the previous years has included 24 cookies and this year will not be any different. I’ll share a new Christmas cookie recipe each and every single day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday!

You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas cookie recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to bake the same holiday cookies year after year?

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Volume 5 of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! Fresh off of my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas and my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series, I’m ready to plow through the next 24 days with you!

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday baking countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar. 
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies. 
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
• Spiced Christmas Jam – I have a homemade version here that is quick and easy to make! More about that in the next section!

SPICED CHRISTMAS JAM

Lord Byron’s Kitchen is no stranger to homemade jams. In fact, one of the most popular recipes here is my Easy Homemade Jam. That particular post focuses on a small batch of jam, meaning a jar or two. But, what if you have lots of berries that you want to make into jam? Or what if you plan to make lots of jars of jam to gift as presents this holiday season? You will need to properly can it so that it is safe for long-term storage. This Spiced Christmas Jam recipe is just the thing!

First of all, you will need only a few ingredients, four of which are spices you most likely already have in your spice rack. Secondly, this jam does make a larger batch, so you will need to employ the water bath canning method, which is much less cumbersome than pressure canning.

So what if you don’t want to can jam? What if you only want enough to make these Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies? That’s quite easy too! You have two options. The first, which might seem pretty obvious, is to make a very small batch of my Christmas jam. I can tell you exactly how to do that.

Secondly, you can buy a jar of jam from your local grocery store or even a market. Lots of Christmas markets and farmers’ markets will have homemade jams and preserves this time of year. You can buy one of those, preferably one that has cranberries in it, and stir through the spices. It’s really simple!

MAKING THE BEST SPRITZ COOKIES

There are a couple of tips that I want to share with you to ensure you have the best spritz cookie experience. First and foremost, please be absolutely sure that your butter, egg, and even the vanilla extract is at room temperature. This will make the dough soft and pliable so that you can squeeze it out of the spritz easily and perfectly.

Secondly, the cookie dough will need something to stick to – let me explain. When you spritz out the cookie dough, the spritzer is flush against the baking sheet. In order for the dough to come off of the spritzer and stick to the pan, the right lining is needed.

You have two choices. First, you can do it right onto the pan. But, I have found that if I do not line my baking sheet first, then the cookies become too dark on the bottom. A sheet of parchment paper makes the job very frustrating. First, it moves around too easily. And, secondly, the dough doesn’t stick to it very well, meaning that when you lift the spritzer up, the dough usually comes with it.

The best results are achieved when using a silicone baking mat. Even when they are super clean, they still have a gel-like, almost sticky/gluey feel to them. It’s the perfect surface to stick the dough too, and they provide a great layer of heat protection between the baking sheet and the bottom of the cookie itself. Perfection every time!

HOW TO MAKE SMALL BATCH SPICED CHRISTMAS JAM

Add one and a half cups of chopped strawberries and a half a cup of cranberries to a food processor. (You can use fresh or frozen berries!) Puree the berries and transfer them to a saucepan. Add one and a quarter cups of sugar. Add a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger, a pinch of allspice, and a pinch of cloves.

Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a full boil. Once fully boiling, meaning that even while stirring, the bubbles are still forming on top of the jam, continue to boil for one full minute. Reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook the jam, stirring often to prevent burning, until the jam has thickened.

Normally, I would add pectin, but for a small batch like this, you can just cook it down until most of the moisture has evaporated, which will result in a thick jam. Transfer the jam to a bowl and refrigerate and completely cool. This will make more than what you will need for the Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies, but I’m sure you can use up the rest quite easily on your morning toast!

HOW TO MAKE SPICED JAM SPRITZ COOKIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until well combined – about 2 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Beat into the butter and sugar mixture until completely incorporated. Sift together the flour, and baking powder. Add it to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.

Load the cookie dough into a cookie press which has been fitted with a disc of your choosing. One with an indented center works best to hold the jam in place. Press the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch of space between each cookie. Top the middle of each pressed cookie with about ½ teaspoon of spiced jam.  Be sure to not overfill the center of the cookie, otherwise, the jam will spill over the cookie.

Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in a food-safe container for 3-4 days on your countertop.  You can also refrigerate for 5-7 days.  The cookies can be frozen for 3 months.  To thaw, lay them flat onto a wire cooling rack for about 10 minutes.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Spiced Jam Spritz Cookies, you certainly can! Once completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. If packaging, wait until the condensation has evaporated. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!