easy fruit-filled pastry heart cookies

ingredients

• servings: 18
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cold cream cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 6 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 2 tablespoons white sugar, for sprinkling

recipe

preparation time: 30 mins cook time: 10 mins ready time: 3 hrs 10 mins


• preheat an oven to 375 degrees f (190 degrees c). spray baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.
• place the flour, butter, cream cheese, and salt in a bowl. cut it together with 2 knives or a pastry cutter until the butter and cream cheese is the size of small peas. shape the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• cut the dough in half and place half in the refrigerator to stay cold. roll the other half between 2 pieces of wax paper or parchment into a sheet about 1/8 inch thick. lift off the top sheet, and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut 18 cookies. before lifting the cutouts from the wax paper, put the dough a flat baking sheet and into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up the cookies. set the 18 cookies aside. repeat with the other half of the dough, also making 18 heart-shaped cookies.
• place 18 cookies the prepared baking sheets so they don't touch. carefully brush a little beaten egg around the top of each cookie, and spoon about 1 teaspoon of preserves into the center of the cookie. top each with another unfilled cookie, press together around the edges, and crimp the edges with a fork to seal in the filling and make a pretty edge. brush the tops of the filled cookies with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar.
• bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are a light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. cool completely before placing in containers.