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Every Christmas, without fail, I pull out my cookbook and flip it to the well-worn page that houses a timeless recipe for Imperial cookies.
They're my specialty. Boy, they're a lot of work, but the spark of excitement I see on my family members' faces when they glimpse what I've brought to our family gathering makes it all worthwhile.
I started making Imperials because they hold a special place in my heart and in my mom's heart.
I have joyful childhood memories of going out to the cottage with my grandma in the summertime. We'd stop to pick up freshly baked Imperial cookies on the way.
And my mom revisits happy memories when I make these cookies because they remind her of her own grandma.
Every time she has one, she sighs contentedly, pauses for a moment or reminiscing, and declares that the ones I make are exactly like the ones her grandma used to make when she was growing up.
Now that I have children of my own, I carry on the tradition of making these cookies for special occasions, whether it's for the holidays, someone's bridal shower, or an important birthday, like when my grandma turned the big 8-8 on June 8!
I like to encourage my twins to have fun with me while we do it. We don our chef's hats, put on a fun playlist with songs like Build Me Up, Buttercup, and make happy memories while we bake up a storm.
A Timeless Recipe: Imperial Cookies
The measurements below are for a single batch that makes about 30 filled cookies, but whenever I make Imperials, they're in high demand and disappear quite quickly, so you're probably going to want to double the recipe.
Part of the reason they disappear so fast is that they're sort of like the unicorn of the cookie universe—they're hard to find in the wild.
That, and they take two or three days to make, if you want the best results. One day to bake, one day to jam, and one day to ice.
Can you bake and jam on the same day? Of course.
But then you're still looking at two days to properly assemble them if you don't want them to be falling apart when your friends and family enjoy them. (More on this, below).
Cookies
180 ml (3/4 cup) shortening
250 ml (1 cup) granulated sugar
2 eggs
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract (If you have the option, use clear vanilla to keep your cookies bright)
560 ml (2 1/4 cups) flour
7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) baking powder
1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
Filling and frosting
250 ml (1 cup) raspberry jam in total, for about 1/2 tbsp (or 7 ml) of jam per cookie half (Personally, I prefer jam with seeds, as that's what I had growing up, but you can always opt for a seedless jam)
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar
2 ml (1/2 tsp) almond extract
22-30 ml (1 1/2-2 tbsp) hot water (Sometimes, you need more, but go slowly, or you'll make it too thin)
Candied cherries, cut into halves or quarters, depending on how big you want them (some people really like them, others just want a faint hint of cherry)
*If you have a cookie monster who doesn't care for candied cherries, you can skip the cherries and use red or green sugar sprinkles to decorate their share of the haul instead.
Method
In a large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, cream the shortening and sugar until it's fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together. Add the dry mixture to the bowl with wet ingredients and mix it to form the cookie dough.
If you like, you can let the dough chill in the fridge for an hour for easy rolling. But if you are a parent or caregiver to young twins, chances are you're probably using their preciously synced-up naptime to power through your priority list as quickly as possible and will roll on to rolling out immediately.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of one-eighth of an inch.
Important side note: Whenever you're making a sandwich-style cookie, it's crucial to ensure your dough is evenly rolled, or your baked cookies won't match up, size-wise, when it's time to fill and close the sandwich.
In the grand scheme of things, a cookie's a cookie and will taste just as delightful, no matter how it looks, but if you want picture-perfect cookies that are all uniform in size, then you'll want to use a rolling pin equipped with thickness rings, like this one. It'll ensure you have evenly rolled dough, and, therefore, evenly sized cookies, for easy stacking when it's assembly time.
Cut the dough into two-inch rounds (if you prefer a classic scallop-edged Imperial, be sure to use scalloped cutters).
Honestly, the scalloped ones are a bit of a pain to ice because they release more crumbs during the frosting phase, but they're so sweet and delicate-looking that I still often opt for this classic cut.
This set of double-sided cookie and pastry cutters comes with both a smooth-edged round cutter and a scallop-edged cutter, so you'll be free to decide in the moment which you want to do, or you could do a mix of both shapes (just be sure to cut an even number of each shape, or you'll end up with a lonely un-Imperialed cookie that didn't get to fulfill its delicious destiny at the end).
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them at 350° F for eight to 10 minutes, until they're very lightly browned around the edges.
If the cookies need more time, keep a watchful eye on the oven; they can go from perfect to crisp in a matter of 30 seconds.
Remove them from the oven and let them cool for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you end up with differently sized cookies between batches, match up the same-sized cookies at this point for a more efficient jam session.
Use a butter knife to spread the raspberry jam on the underside of half of the cookies.
Be mindful not to use TOO much jam, or it will spill out of the cookies when you press them together and turn your icing process into a suddenly very sticky situation.
Top the jammed cookies with the remaining plain cookies.
If you have time, it's best to let them sit for at least a few hours, if not overnight (covered with tinfoil) for easier icing. This is because a freshly jammed cookie can prove to be quite slippery and result in unintentional jam-hands.
Trust me, you don't want jam-hands.
When you're ready to get frosting, combine the icing sugar, almond extract, and just enough hot water (not boiling water, or you'll end up with icing soup) to make a medium-to-thick icing.
Some say a thin icing is better; it dries faster, but it's not necessarily better. Whenever I've tried a thin icing, it drips down over the jammed area, which makes for a messy final look.
A slightly thicker icing will still dry fairly quickly and won't spill over the edge of the cookie. Just be careful not to go TOO thick, or you risk breaking a cookie while frosting it. (The horror!)
Frost the tops of the cookies. I find it's easiest to use a bowl that's large enough to do an upside-down-dip on the cookie tops. Hold the jammed cookie upside down and swirl its lid in a circular motion along the top of the icing.
This maneuver effectively covers the top with frosting without requiring any extra utensils. Then, place the iced cookie onto a baking sheet to wait for its finishing touches.
After you've iced nine or 12 cookies, grab a pile of your precut cherry toppers and drop them in place on the center of the lids before the frosting begins to firm up.
Cover the baking sheet with tinfoil (crinkle it into a slight arch shape to ensure it doesn't rest directly on icing as it dries) and let them set overnight.
As tough as it can be to wait, this extra time is worth it because it allows the cookie tops and bottoms to melt into each other and gives the raspberry and almond flavor profiles an opportunity to meld together, making for a much less messy and much more delicious eating experience.
Once your pretty cookies are all set and ready to enjoy, put them on display in a container worthy of all your hard work.
TwinsyTwins Shop
Three-Tier Glass Stackable Apothecary Jar with Lid
Desserts on Display
This apothecary jar comes with a lid to keep things airtight. But the best part is that this jar is designed to be stackable, so if you make a small batch, you can got them all in one jar, but if you double-up on your Imperial cookies, as I normally do, you won't run out of room to store (read: show off) the spoils of your labor.
Or, if you're making these cookies for a sweet celebration, like a baby shower, wedding, holiday gathering, or High Tea, try something like this gorgeous dessert stand.
TwinsyTwins Shop
Three-Tier Ceramic Cake / Dessert Stand
Sweet Serving Platter
This delicate dessert serving stand has three tiers and lovely golden hardware that's almost as exquisite as the Imperials you just made.
Sweet cookies, sweeter memories
Baking cookies is fun. Making memories you look back on is even better.
I've now made these cookies on my own, with my twin brother, and with my own twins.
Each time I make them, I remember the time we spent together in the kitchen and the time spent with loved ones, where they disappear bite by bite.
Yeah, they take a lot of time to make.
But they times they give back to me are endless.
Do you have a favorite cookie or treat you make for special occasions? What is it? What makes it so special? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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