A delicious buttery cookie with a deep red, tangy ribbon of cherry jam, these Cherry Ribbon Butter Cookies are the perfect, super simple slice-and-bake cookie for this year’s holiday cookie tray!
Ahhhh holiday cookie season! Is there anything better?
My kitchen is alive with the smell of holiday cookies and I’m loving it!
Making cookies for friends and family during the holiday season is one of my favorite things. I spend weeks before the season even starts planning out what cookies will grace my holiday trays. As I’ve mentioned before, there are always a few favorites that make the cut every year, but I also like to add two to three newbies to impress the crowd.
These Cherry Ribbon Butter Cookies are the perfect super simple slice and bake cookie for this year’s tray. They’re a buttery and rich cookie with a tangy ribbon of cherry jam running through them.
The recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen’s book, The Perfect Cookie. Their book is one of my favorite cookie cookbooks. What I love about it is that it lets you, the reader, know why the recipes work and what tweaks they did to make them work. I’ve made numerous recipes from the book and all have been spot on. I’ve linked the book above and it’s definitely worth a peek. It would make for a wonderful gift for the cookie lover in your life this holiday season!
Slice and bake cookies are always one of my favorites. You may think these look difficult, but they’re really quite easy. And if you’d like to change the flavor of jam, I’ve also used apricot, and I’m looking ahead to spring with a blueberry/lemon combination too, so stay tuned.
Hope these secure a spot on your holiday cookie tray this year friends. Enjoy!
A Few Cook’s Notes for Cherry Ribbon Butter Cookies Recipe:
The Test Kitchen mentions that the cherry ribbon needs the added dried tart cherries. The cherries thickened the mixture so it eliminated seeping into the layers.
Do not skip all the freezing at the different steps in the recipe. Chilling the dough helps the cookies not spread.
Cherry Ribbon Butter Cookies
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 12 chunks and softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup dried tart cherries
- 6 Tbsp. cherry jam or preserves
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt and process until no clumps of brown sugar remain, about 30 seconds Add the butter, egg yolk and both the extracts and process until smooth and creamy, about 20 seconds making sure to scrape down the bowl when needed. Add the flour and pulse until the mixture forms a dough, roughly 20 pulses. Trasfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and pat it into a 5-inch square. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
- In a small saucepan, heat the cherries and cherry jam or preserves over medium heat until just bubbly. Let the mixture cool completely, about 30 minutes. Process the jam in a dry, clean food processor until it's smooth, about 15-20 seconds.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it between two pieces of parchment paper into a 10-inch square, to about 1/4-inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut the dough into four 2 1/2-inch strips. Spread the cherry mixture evenly over three of the strips, then stack the strips with the jam side up, ending with the plain strip on top. Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 15-20 minutes.
- Adjust your oven racks to the middle and lower levels and preheat until 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the chilled dough into 1/4-inch thick slices and place them 1 inch apart on your prepared sheets. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden, about 13-15 minutes, switching and rotating the trays halfway through baking time. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to wire racks. Repeat with any remaining dough. Let cookies cool before serving.
Recipe adapted from The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen
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I wonder if these cookies would be ok with my homemade strawberry and respberry jam?
Hi Trish. The recipe from the Test Kitchen cookbook says so the filling doesn’t seep into the layers, the dried fruit really needs to be added. So unfortunately, using just plain jam alone wouldn’t work correctly.
Thanks, Mary Ann, I will try them with cherry…..they look so yummy:)
You can always use the homemade jam for thumbprint cookies Trish. Enjoy!
These are such a unique and elegant looking cookie! Truthfully it is so intriguing it is probably the one I’d reach for from a cookie box!!
You wouldn’t be disappointed Katherine. They’re delicious. I love the Test Kitchen’s cookie book!
I love your holiday cookies, Mary Ann! And these do not disappoint – just look at those gorgeous ribbons! Adding these to my baking list!
Thanks so much Marissa! You’ll enjoy them!
Mary Ann, I just love anything with cherries, and cherry jam + dried cherries? I can’t think of a better cookie! I also love ATK, their recipe are always perfect. Thanks for this recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do Laura!
Such pretty cookies and I always love anything cherry :) Will be adding these to my baking list!
Oh my goodness! This is quite the cookie! Would love nothing more than to sit in your kitchen alive with baking, and enjoy a nibble or two!! Pinned! Have a lovely weekend, my friend!
You too Annie!
Hi MaryAnn,
I made your cookie recipe, delicious! Despite following the directions, I only ended up with 26 cookies. They look very similar to the photos. Should I have made a larger square?
It could be that yours were just sliced a bit thicker or that your square was a bit smaller. Just adjust next time you bake them if you’d like or if you were happy with them the way they baked up keep it the same.