As some of you may have surmised, my mom is German. She’s from a small town in the Rheinland called Baumholder. It used to be a big Army base, but now it’s gone back to being (mostly) a regular town again. These traditional German Plätzchen (cookies) called Terrassen are ones that we make every year in our family during the holidays. I grew up with them and now my kids enjoy them too. They’re basically shortbread sandwiches filled with jam. Buttery and delicious!
Terrassen
- 1 stick and 2 Tbs. butter
- 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup seedless raspberry jam, strawberry jam, or current jam
*You will need round cookie cutters: One large and one small (for the hole in the center of the top.)
**You will need TWO batches of this recipe. One for the cookie bottoms and one for the tops. If your mixer is big enough, you could combine it into a single batch. (Mine isn’t, so I do two batches.)**
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add to electric mixer until softened. Add vanilla, egg, and sugar. Mix until well combined.
- Add baking powder and flour. Mix until smooth. Then refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes (or longer, just make sure it’s in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.)
- Flour a board (I use a clean kitchen counter) and roll out one half of the dough until it’s about ¼ inch thick. Using the large cookie cutter, cut out the bottoms. Transfer to cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not brown them. Do the same with the other half of the dough, but use the smaller cookie cutter to create the opening in the center. Let all your cookies cool completely.
- Once they are cool, transfer all your tops to a clean board and sprinkle them generously with powdered suger.
- Heat the jam until it is softened, then add some to each cookie bottom. Gently place a sugared top over each of the bottoms and press gently.
Enjoy – These look beautiful and taste yummy. Sehr lecker!