In my novella "Finding Joy" Mateo makes Joulutorttu or Finnish Christmas Star Cookies to celebrate Lina's heritage. I thought I would share the recipe I used here if you would like to make them yourself.
YIELD: 2 DOZEN (3 INCH) STAR COOKIES
Joulutorttu (Finnish Christmas Star Cookies)
Soft and flaky pasty surrounds a flavorful jam in Joulutorttu, festive Finnish Christmas Star Cookies. | www.CuriousCuisiniere.com
Soft and flaky pasty surrounds a flavorful jam in Joulutorttu, festive Finnish Christmas Star Cookies.
For best results, refrigerate this dough for 2-3 hours before shaping and baking the cookies.
PREP TIME
1 hour
COOK TIME
12 minutes
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 12 minutes
Ingredients
For the Pastry
2 sticks (16 Tbsp) salted butter, softened
8 oz ricotta cheese
2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
To Make the Cookies
½ c prune jam, (recipe below*) or other thick jam
1 egg, lightly beaten
Powdered sugar, (for dusting the finished cookies)
Instructions
For the Dough
In a large bowl beat together butter and ricotta cheese with an electric hand mixer. Add the flour, and mix until a soft dough comes together.
Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball and wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (up to overnight), until firm.
To Shape And Bake
Preheat your oven to 425F.
Lightly flour your countertop and roll out one section of dough to a rectangle (roughly 12 x 9 inches) that is about an 1/8 inch thick.
Cut the dough into 3-inch squares.
In each square, make four cuts, one from each corner, each going 1/2 - 2/3 of the way to the center of the square.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam in the center of each square.
Fold every other corner of each square over the jam. Use the beaten egg wash to moisten the corners slightly and lightly press to seal the corners together over top of the jam.
Transfer your pinwheel cookie to a parchment lined baking sheet, placing the cookies 1 inch apart.
Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the beaten egg.
Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes, until golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cool, dust them lightly with powdered sugar.
Store the cookies in an air-tight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
Notes
*Prune Jam
Yield: 1 1/2 c of jam
1 c roughly chopped prunes
½ c sugar
Water, (to cover)
Place the prunes and sugar in a small saucepan. Add water to cover the prunes and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.
Simmer, uncovered, until the prunes are very soft and mixture is jammy, 20-30 min. (Add water as necessary during the simmering so the mixture doesn’t become too dry.)
Remove the pan from the heat and let the jam cool completely before using.
Nutrition Information: YIELD: 12 SERVING SIZE: 2 cookies
Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 110
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