My fascination with Christmas cookies started as a child when my elderly neighbor used to bring over a tray of her homemade Christmas cookies every year. I loved the moment where I got to choose a cookie from the beautiful, interesting selection. In my humble opinion, I think a holiday cookie should be something special. It should be something that you don’t eat on a regular basis, maybe because it seems fancy or requires a little extra work to make. Or maybe it has a special meaning or a fond memory. These Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets check all the boxes for me. They have that something special a cookie needs to be the star of the holiday cookie tray…tender jam-filled chocolate dough, dipped in shiny chocolate with a pretty pop of red.
Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (6 ounces) powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup (1 ounce) unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour, sifted
- ½ cup (5 ounces) raspberry jam or or fruit spread
- 4 ounces melted semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil or vegetable shortening
- crushed freeze dried raspberries or sprinkles of your choice Optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
- Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.
- On low speed, beat in flour just until combined.
- Divide dough into two equal portions. Wrap with plastic wrap and form into disks. Refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll dough between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into 3-inch rounds, re-rolling scraps as necessary. If dough becomes too soft at any point, chill in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes then continue with recipe.
- Place rounds on prepared baking sheets. Top each round with a teaspoon of jam.
- With a small food safe brush or with your finger, apply a small amount of water to the edge of half of each round. Fold over and press edges to seal.
- Bake until tops of cookies look set, about 9-11 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
- In a small bowl, mix melted chocolate with coconut oil until smooth.
- Dip cookies about 1/3 of the way into melted chocolate. Top with freeze dried fruit or sprinkles.