Marisa's Italian Kitchen

The Secret Ingredient Is Always Love

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Butterball Cookies

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Butterball cookies

 

 

My exquisitely fragrant vanilla sugar is ready and waiting to coat these cute little one bite Butterball Cookies! I am filling mine with raspberry jam as it seems to be everyone’s favorite. Alternately the butterball cookies can be filled with Nutella or even chocolate ganache but however you choose to fill them they will garner many smiles from both kids and adults alike.

This recipe is not an overly complicated one or with any fancy techniques. We are taking just a few simple ingredients, which I am sure you already have on hand and turning them into these irresistible buttery morsels.

So get comfortable, play your favorite holiday music and lets roll some butterballs!

Butterball cookies

You will need 3 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

I measured out 1/4 teaspoon of cookie dough and rolled them in the palm of my hands, no bigger than the size of a hazelnut in it’s shell. Do place them about 2 inches apart as they will spread.

Here is a helpful tip, the dough can be made up to 1 week in advance and chilled till ready to use. Or simply form the balls right after making the dough, keeping them chilled or frozen until you are ready to bake.

Butterball cookies

They will develop a crinkly skirt around the edges which easily crumbles off once cooled.

butterball cookies

Once the cookies are cooled, they are ready to be filled and rolled in the vanilla sugar. Place a small dollop of jam on the flat surface of half of the cooled cookies and top with another half to sandwich them together.

butterball cookies

Once they are paired and sandwiched together, fill a small bowl with the vanilla sugar and turn to coat the butterball cookies all over. Click here for Vanilla Sugar recipe.

Butterball cookies

They are just beautiful served in an elegant footed glass bowl and a wonderful addition to any holiday cookie platter or for any special occasion for that matter. Which ever way you serve them, they will impress your guests!

This recipe is adapted from a wonderful cookbook : Chocolate and Vanilla by Gale Gand

Butterball-cookies
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Butterball Cookies

A buttery sandwich cookie filled with raspberry jam and rolled in vanilla sugar.
Course Cookie
Servings 50 -60 cookies
Author Marisa

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
  • 1 cup vanilla sugar for rolling

Instructions

  1. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for about 3 to 5 minutes until the butter is light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar until well blended then add in the flour and continue mixing until the dough is formed. Wrap the dough with saran wrap and chill the dough for about 3 hours. Chilling the dough will prevent the cookies from spreading out too much when baked.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375*F.
  3. Use a small spoon to tear out small pieces of dough and use the palm of your hands to roll them out into small balls about the size of a hazelnut. Place them on a cookie sheet and chill them in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  4. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets (cookies will spread). Bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the cookies are firm and pale golden in color. Keep the remaining cookie sheets chilled till ready to bake the next batch.
  5. Spread the flat side of half the cookies with the jam and then top with remaining cookies to form a sandwich. Once you have paired them and formed little sandwich cookies, roll them in vanilla sugar to coat all over.

 

Vanilla Sugar

by 18 Comments

Vanilla sugar

December is my absolute favorite time of the year. A time where after much planning ahead, I finally start the cookie baking madness. As friends and family and colleagues know me well, I live and breath cookies during this busy holiday season. My dining room table is littered with cookbooks, baking magazines and recipe clippings that I have acquired throughout the years and in the next few weeks I will be sharing with you some of my favorite holiday treats. So do join me because this month it’s all about the cookies and I’ll give you tips and tricks on how to get through the baking madness!

With a little bit of planning ahead you too can bake up some delicious baked goods to share with family and friends. Today we are starting off with a super easy, two ingredient recipe…Vanilla Sugar. Yes it’s that easy, like 5 minute easy and far superior to any store bought version. And in the coming days I will share with you a family favorite recipe using this fragrant sugar.

Vanilla sugar can be utilized in various ways, from sweetening coffee, tea, baked treats and yes even savory recipes. It can be poured into decorative glass jars or bottles and gifted to guests as a “sweet” way of saying thank-you (pun intended). 🙂

vanilla pod

With a sharp knife slice open the vanilla bean and use the back of the knife to scrape out the seeds.

vanilla sugar

Combine the sugar and vanilla seeds together in a bowl and stir until the seeds are well dispersed. You can also use 2 rubber spatulas to slowly rub together the sugar and vanilla seeds to release larger clumps.

Vanilla sugar

Transfer the vanilla sugar into an airtight container and bury the pod deeply into the sugar.

Over time the Vanilla Sugar becomes more and more fragrant, so go ahead and make it a couple of weeks in advance before you start your holiday baking.

Here’s a tip, when a recipe calls for vanilla seeds only, don’t discard the pod. Rather give it new life by adding it to your vanilla sugar canister, as this will help to maintain the flavor of your vanilla sugar and refreshes it at the same time. And continue filling with more granulated sugar as the quantity depletes.

gift tags

For those expecting savory dishes this month I hope you are not too disappointed because…well…have I mentioned that this month is all about the cookies!! I have friends requesting trays of cookies for their family gatherings and I gift a lot of my baked goods…so what is this girl to do but bake…like a lot of cookies. 🙂

vanilla-sugar
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Vanilla Sugar

Aromatic vanilla scented sugar
Course Dessert
Servings 2 cups
Author Marisa

Ingredients

  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 2 cups granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Slice the Vanilla Bean down the middle from end to end with a sharp knife. Using the back of the knife, scrape out the seeds.
  2. Combine the sugar with the vanilla seeds in a medium bowl and stir until the vanilla seeds are well dispersed.
  3. Transfer to an airtight container and bury the pods deeply in the vanilla sugar. It can be stored indefinitely.
  4. Use in your favorite coffee, tea or desserts.

 

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