4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons seedless strawberry jam
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 to 3 drops red food coloring, optional
BATTER:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
Chopped fresh strawberries, optional
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Beat cream cheese, sugar and jam until blended. Fold in whipped cream and, if desired, food coloring. Refrigerate.
2. For batter, whisk sugar, flour and salt; stir in egg whites and vanilla until smooth. Whisk in butter until blended. Line baking sheets with parchment. Preparing 4 cookies at a time, drop batter by 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls 4 in. apart onto prepared pans. Bake until edges are lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Loosen each cookie and curl around a wooden spoon handle. Press lightly to seal; hold until set, about 20 seconds. Transfer to waxed paper to cool. Repeat with remaining cookies. If cookies become too cool to shape, return to oven for 1 minute to soften.
4. Just before serving, spoon filling into cookie shells. Or pipe it by cutting a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag and inserting a star tip, then transferring filling to bag. After filling shells, dip ends of cookies into chopped strawberries if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.
My mom and I made up this recipe by combining two others. These cute cookies are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy inside. You could also bake the cookies flat and serve the filling as a cookie dip if you like.
TOTAL TIME: Prep: 40 min. + chilling Bake: 5 min./batch + cooling
YIELD: about 2 dozen.
Nutrition Facts
1 cookie: 72 calories, 4g fat (3g saturated fat), 12mg cholesterol, 44mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate (7g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein.