Buttery Strawberry Jam Cookies with Crystallized Ginger and Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy February, friends! Can you believe it. It's time for lots of chocolate, pink sugar cookies, and special dinners with your loved ones. February is usually a pretty cold and dreary month in Utah, especially if you don't make it up to the ski resorts as much as you'd like...but this year it's warm, the roads are clear and it feels like an early Spring. I am always confused at what to wear in the mornings.

 

But one thing I'm not confused about is getting into the spirit of love. I grew up in a home where my Mother decked out the house in pinks and reds and always made festive treats. My father spoiled his girls with beautiful flower arrangements, and we all had a fun time. I haven't quite pulled out any decor yet, but I have been adding to my list of special treats to make for weeks! Adam and I have the tradition where we eat-in for Valentine's. It's just the way I like it. No huge expensive gift expectations, no long wait at restaurants--just a nice evening at home to love and appreciate each other. And oh yeah, enjoy a delicious homemade meal.

Adam makes dinner and I bake dessert. I am honestly stuck at what to make this year. I can't decide if I'm going the chocolate route or the fruit direction. All I know is I want to keep it simple and delicious.

Speaking of simple. I have a super easy cookie recipe for you to try that is super delicious. It would be great for Valentine's Day! It's a special strawberry cookie recipe that I adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Buttery Jam Cookies. This recipe all came about by the ridiculously over-abundance of jam in our fridge.

My sweet husband can't resist great jam, and every time he runs an errand he comes home with a new jar. The jam to human ratio at our home is 7:2. It's crazy! As I was cleaning our fridge one day I decided it was time to bake with jam. I had my eye on my current favorite strawberry jam preserves by Bonne Mamam. Man, that stuff is good. So I went to work.

I made Dorie's Buttery Jam Cookies recipe as usual with three minor adaptations.
1. I used Strawberry Jam instead of apricot.
2. I added in a heaping tablespoon of minced crystallized ginger (I'm always looking for ways to use this stuff up!)
3. I made a Strawberry Cream Cheese frosting to top it off. (Best decision ever! I already had a batch of cream cheese frosting made from a previous project and just folded in the jam. Hello, easy)

I hope you'll give these Butter Strawberry Jam Cookies a try. They'll be great for Valentine's day or really, any day of the year! And it may just help you jam addicts clear out that top shelf.

Buttery Strawberry Jam Cookies 
with Crystallized Ginger and Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
by Becky of Project Domestication
Slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Buttery Jam Cookies

Ingredients:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 c. sugar
1 large egg
2 T. milk
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1/4 c. strawberry jam
1 heaping tablespoon of minced, crystallized ginger

Directions:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
   Whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger and salt.
   Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and beat for a minute. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes more. The mixture will be satiny. Add the milk and the vanilla and beat just to combine. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled, it will even out shortly. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the jam and beat for 1 minute more. With the mixer still on low, add the dry ingredients (except for the crystallized ginger) and mix only until they are incorporated. Add in crystallized ginger and mix till barely combined. You'll have a very thick dough.
   Spoon the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls (or larger) onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch between mounds.
   Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies will be only just firm, fairly pale and browned around the edges. Pull the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then carefully transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Let cookies come to room temperature. Frost with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1 c. cream cheese frosting (Use your favorite recipe.)
1/4 c. strawberry jam

Directions:
Combine jam and frosting with spatula. Mix until combined.