Apricot Diamonds

This is the first of two recipes I'll post from this past week's cookbook focus, The Winter Vegetarian. I'll save my broader comments for next week! All that's important here is that this recipe is simple, can be made into practically any flavor depending on the jam you like best, and the cookies are tasty. I rewrote the recipe in my own words, because this recipe is so simple I could still remember the ingredients it called for.

 

Apricot Diamonds

2 sticks butter, or 1 cup, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup apricot jam

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes.

3. Mix in egg yolks and vanilla. Scrape down as needed.

4. Add flour and mix just until blended. The dough may not be completely cohesive and this is okay.

5. Dump 1/2-2/3 of the dough into a 9x13 pan and press down to make an even crust. 

6. Drop spoonfuls of the jam onto the crust and spread out as evenly as possible.

7. Crumble the rest of the dough on to the jam and spread evenly. It can help to press some together in flat pieces, but I found that just dumping and lightly spreading, pressing down into the jam, worked just fine.

8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until browning along the edges.

9. Cut into diamonds and serve.

If you don't know how to cut into diamonds, there are a bunch of videos on YouTube with grandmas who have their own cooking channels, showing you how to cook bars into diamonds.