Cottage Cheese Cookies

I've found the newest addition to our Christmas cookie list. These bad boys are super simple to whip up, make a lot (which is perfect for a cookie exchange), are fairly inexpensive, and look soooo cute. 

I initially decided to try a cookie with cottage cheese because we accidentally bought way too much of it. Turns out, this was a very happy accident. 

The dough for these cookies is kind of like a pie dough, giving these cookies a "turnover" feel. With only 3 ingredients I'm thinking this dough would be excellent for tons more uses - maybe even some savory ones!

Cottage Cheese Cookies

Ingredients

Dough

2 cups flour

1 cup butter, cold

1 cup + 2 Tbsp cottage cheese

Filling

1/2 cup or more of jam

Drizzle

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

~1 Tbsp milk

Directions

Prepare dough - In a blender or food processor, process the flour and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

Add in the cottage cheese and process until dough starts to form and pull away from sides. Cover the dough and chill for about an hour.

After chilling, preheat oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out with a circle cookie cutter (I believe mine was 3 inch). You can re-roll the scraps and cut out more circles. 

Place 1/4 tsp of jam in the center of each circle.

Tightly pinch the edges together (if you find they are not sticking then dampen the edges with a dab of water).  Repeat until all the circles are done. Place them on the prepared cookie sheet. 

Poke each one with a fork so they can vent. 

Bake at 400 for about 15 - 20 minutes - until cookies are lightly browned. 

If they aren't sealed tightly then they will pop open a bit. Which I love because then you can see some of the colorful filling inside. If you don't want that to happen though, be sure to seal them very firmly. 

Prepare drizzle - Once cookies are completely cooled: in a small bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, vanilla, and milk until mixture is the consistency of glue and will run off the end of a spoon so you can drizzle it over the cookies. You made need to add a pinch more milk, or a pinch more icing sugar to get the right consistency. 

FYI - I believe I got 40-ish cookies from one recipe. 

They are just so cute. They look like pierogies when you are making them! Red jam is perfect for Christmas but you could use any jam you like. If you want a little different twist - use about 1/8 of a tsp of almond extract in the glaze instead of the vanilla.