Teeny Tiny Pies for National Pie Day

Teeny Tiny Pies

• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) room-temperature butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, extra-fine if you have it
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces yes) unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur brand preferred)

Topping

• heaping 1/2 cup (6 ounces) jam or preserves

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla and almond extracts, beating till smooth. Add the flour, again beating till smooth. Drop the dough in 1-inch balls onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them; a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here.

Using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup, flatten the balls gently, to about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until their edges are just starting to brown. While they’re baking, find a flat bottle lid or other round, flat object about 1 1/4 inches in diameter, to press indentations into the baked cookies.

Remove the cookies from the oven, and working quickly, firmly press straight down into their centers, to make a shallow indentation about 1 1/4 inches across. Try upending a bottle of vegetable oil and using the screwed-on cap to make the indentations.

Dollop 1 level measuring teaspoon of jam or preserves into the center of each cookie, spreading it to the edges of the indentation, if necessary.

Let the cookies cool completely right on the pan. Store any leftovers on a plate covered loosely with plastic wrap; or slide the plate into a bag, ballooning it up so the bag doesn’t touch the jam. You can also store these cookies under a cake cover.

Yield: about 25 small (2-inch) cookies.

Note from the ShockD kitchen

We like to store these cookies unfilled, and just before serving, we dollop the jam. That way there can be no sogginess or messy jam smears in the cookie container.

Source: King Arthur Flour. They call them Jam Blossoms ^[1].