Jam Filled Butter Cookies For Our Royal Wedding Tea Party

Over this past week the world has been abuzz with talk of the Royal Wedding.  What would Kate Middleton be wearing?  What would others be wearing?  What security precautions were being taken?  Who would be on the guest list?  Most importantly, what FOOD would be served?  I can't imagine the delicious dishes, pastries and delicacies that will be pouring out of the royal kitchen today.  I'm pretty positive that they will all be as amazing as Kate looked in her dress...although I can't say as much for most of the hats I saw the attending guests sporting.  Interesting choices!!

Yesterday, the thread was started in the food forum about what everyone was making in honor of the Royal Wedding.  I hadn't really thought of it before that moment, but wouldn't it be fun to throw a surprise Tea Party to surprise my Assistant Chef??  For about 2 years now she has been OBSESSED with the Disney Princesses.  She love, love, loves them.  She even tells me that when she grows up she is going to be a princess (and a chef of course!).  When the coverage started on the TV at the beginning of the week, a reporter was doing a piece on the wedding and happened to be standing in front of Buckingham Palace.  They were showing pictures of Kate, so I explained to Brenna that this lady would soon be marrying a prince and she would become a princess.  She was amazed...a REAL LIFE PRINCESS!!  I explained that Buckingham Palace was the "castle" they would live in and she asked if she could go and see it.  I told her I was sorry, but a trip to the Royal Palace was not in our budget.  BUT, I thought to myself, I could bring a little piece of the palace to her.  So it was decided...a Royal Wedding Tea Party would be held at my home the next afternoon, 12:30 sharp.  I put the word out to some friends, and even though it was last minute, I did manage to wrangle 2 other little girls into attendance.

I needed to plan a "menu" that I could make with all the ingredients I had on hand, since I had no time for a trip to the store.  I knew I wanted some type of finger sandwiches, a fruit, a smallish type cookie and some "tea".  Here was the final menu:

Finger Sandwiches: Mini Ham/Provolone and Cheese Sandwiches

Fruit: Fruit Skewers

Smallish Cookies: Jam Filled Butter Cookies I found on All Recipes

Tea: Strawberry Lemonade mixed with some Sprite

After Brenna left for preschool I got started...and boy did I have to work fast because I only had 2 hours tops to get everything ready.  The cookies were so incredibly easy to make...you can't beat a cookie with only 5 ingredients.  They were AWESOME!  They look like cute little gems and are very sweet!  I am adding these to my holiday cookie list this year.  They were kind of like a sugar cookie with a slight butter taste that definitely allowed the jam be the star of the cookie.  It was nice getting to use some of my homemade strawberry and peach jams, but I'm sure they would be equally delicious using store bought preserves.  I do have to warn you that jam heated in the oven gets really, really, REALLY hot.  Guess I should have waited to bite into one of the cookies after they cooled more than a minute.  Brenna was so surprised and all the girls had a lovely time dressing up in gowns, giggling and sipping "tea" from real china cups.

I wish all the best for the Royal Couple as they start their new lives together...I hope they were as happy today as my little girl was.

Jam Filled Butter Cookies

*I got 26 cookies from this recipe.  I think I made mine bigger than they needed to be.

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 egg yolks

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Fruit preserves, any flavor

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg yolks.

Slowly mix in the flour, 1/4 c. at a time until dough is soft and smooth.

The finished dough.

Using a tablespoon sized measuring spoon (this will keep the cookies uniform in size) scoop out some dough.  Form them into small balls and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Using your thumb, gently press down leaving an indent in the cookie.  Make sure the indent is deep enough to hold the jam.

Fill in the indents with jam.  I used a baby spoon which made it really easy to fill.  Other people suggested putting the jam in a sandwich bag and snipping of the corner to make a piping bag, but this seemed like it would be more trouble than it was worth for only 26 cookies.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 mins.  Mine cooked the whole 10 mins. and were perfectly golden brown on the bottom.  Let them rest for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Aren't they pretty?!?

The fruit skewers: red grapes, pineapple chunks, strawberries and apples.

My mini finger sandwiches: Sliced french bread lightly spread with margarine and layered with sliced ham and Pprovolone cheese or American cheese.  Bake under the broiler set at 400 degrees for 5 mins. and then flip and cook for an additional 3 mins.

The Mini Finger Sandwiches, sliced and placed on a pretty silver tray.

The "tea": Strawberry Lemonade and Sprite.  Sorry....I don't own a teapot!

Our Tea Party Treats.

YUMMY!!

The table all set up and ready for the Princesses.  Wish this picture wasn't so dark!  Boooo!

The beautiful Princess Brenna!

Even Prince Aiden sat in a big boy chair at the table.

Sipping her "tea".

Sipping his "tea".  Sorry....no china cup for Aiden!

The sweet Princess Rachel.

The pretty Princess Abbey!

The three little Princesses who attended the Royal Tea Party.

Thanks sister...even Ethan got the tiara.  In the words of Lady Gaga, "Don't be a drag, just be a queen!".

No "tea" for Ethan.  Maybe for the next Royal Wedding!

Recipe for: Jam Filled Butter Cookies

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jam-Filled-Butter-Cookies/Detail.aspx

To prepare: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Recipe yields approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

Directions

¾ c. butter, softened ½ c. white sugar 2 egg yolks 1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour Fruit preserves of your choice

1.       In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg yolks. 2.       Mix in the flour ¼ c. at a time until the dough is soft and smooth. 3.       Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, form dough into balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet 2” apart. 4.       Using your thumb, gently press down, forming an indentation deep enough to fill with jam. 5.       Fill the indentations with jam. 6.       Bake in a preheated over 8-10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. 7.       Let rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.