Cherry Filled Cutouts Recipes

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until firm. , Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each portion to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-3/4-in. round cutter. Place half of the circles 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets; top each with a heaping teaspoon of pie filling. Cut holes in the center of remaining circles with a 1-in. round cutter; place over filled circles. Seal edges. , Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• In 2-quart saucepan, mix granulated sugar and cornstarch with whisk. Stir in cherries, reserved juice, the orange peel, orange juice and butter. Cut slit down center of vanilla bean; scrape out seeds. Add seeds and bean to cherry mixture. Heat to boiling; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour into shallow container. Remove and discard vanilla bean. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
• Meanwhile, on lightly floured surface, roll 1 pie crust to 1/8-inch thickness. With 5 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 6 hearts. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with second pie crust. With 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out small heart from center of second batch of hearts. Spread 2 tablespoons filling on each plain heart. Cover with cutout hearts so filling shows. Press edges together with fork. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
• Heat oven to 400°F. In small bowl, beat egg and whipping cream. Brush over hearts. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• For the cherry filling: In a heavy-bottomed skillet cook fresh or frozen cherries and lemon juice over medium-high heat, stirring, until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat, stir the almond extract into the cherries and cool. For the pies: Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface. Using the ring from the lid of the jar, cut out 4 circles of dough, that will be the tops of your pies. With the remaining dough, use a 6-inch inverted pie plate to cut 4 circles that will line the inside of each 1/2 pint glass oven-safe jar. Working with the dough as little as possible, make sure that the dough covers the surface area inside the jar with the exception of a 1/2-inch at the top. Once each jar is lined with pie dough, fill each with 1/2 a cup of cherry pie filling. Place a small pat of butter on top of each pie, and top with the pie dough circles or make a lattice pattern. Make sure you vent the top of the crust by creating a slit so that the steam can escape. Using your finger or a fork, press the 2 pieces of dough together around the perimeter. Brush each pie crust with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Seal each jar with its metal lid and place in the freezer for up to 3 weeks. Baking instructions: If baking pies fresh, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. If baking pies that have been frozen, bring them to room temperature before placing in the oven.

Steps:

• Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl; set aside. Pulse pecans, confectioners' sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely ground (but not wet); transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Add butter and granulated sugar; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. Halve dough; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Cut out squares with a 2-inch fluted cutter. Cut out centers of half the squares with a 1/2-inch heart cutter; reroll scraps. Space 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake squares and hearts until pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
• Meanwhile, heat jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced and thickened, about 7 minutes; let cool.
• Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners' sugar. Spread jam onto uncut squares; top with cutout ones.