Description
Tender almond shortbread rounds with a bright raspberry center — simple to mix, quick to bake, and perfect for gifting or cookie plates.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, brought to room temperature
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar (plus extra for dusting)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup finely ground almonds (pulse whole blanched almonds in a food processor)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup seedless raspberry jam (chilled)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicone mat.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the room-temperature butter together with the confectioners’ sugar until pale and aerated — about 2–3 minutes.
- Blend in the vanilla. Give the bowl a quick scrape so everything mixes evenly.
- In a second bowl, whisk the flour, ground almonds, and salt until uniform.
- Add the dry mix to the butter mixture in batches, folding until the dough just comes together. Don’t overwork it.
- Scoop roughly a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and press a shallow well in the center with your thumb or the back of a spoon.
- Spoon about ¼ teaspoon of the chilled raspberry jam into the well. Pull the dough edges together to enclose the jam, then roll the seam into a smooth ball.
- Arrange the filled balls on the prepared pan, spacing them an inch or two apart.
- Bake 10–12 minutes, until the bottoms and rims show the faintest hint of gold. Remove and let rest on the tray for a few minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool fully. When completely cooled, roll each cookie in confectioners’ sugar — then roll again for a thick, snowy coating.
Notes
- Use softened, not melted, butter to keep the cookies tender and prevent spreading.
- Chill your jam if it’s warm from cooking; a cooled filling is less likely to leak.
- Don’t overmix the dough — stop when it clumps together. Overworking makes cookies tough.
- Double dusting gives the classic snowball look and extra sweetness.
- Make-ahead: Dough keeps in the fridge for 48 hours; baked cookies store in an airtight tin for up to 5 days. You can also freeze baked cookies (re-dust after thawing).