Candied Ginger-Pomegranate Stained Glass Hearts

When Jake brought home a jar of pomegranate jelly from one of his co-workers, I thought two things: thumbprint cookies and glazed lamb. 

Well, I decided to go a little bit more Valentines-y with the cookies and made some candied ginger-pomegranate stained glass hearts instead of thumbprints. And I haven't decided on the lamb. I do have lamb chops in the fridge for tonight's dinner. Stay tuned for that...

Ingredients

• 3/4 C butter (1-1/2 sticks), slightly softened
• 1/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/4 C organic powdered sugar +  more for finishing
• 1 egg
• 2 C flour
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t ground allspice
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 2 to 3 T candied ginger pieces
• jam or jelly for filling (I used pomegranate jelly)
• Also needed: heart cookie cutters in two different sizes to make the base and the window

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an hand mixer until lightened and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and the spices until it comes together as a ball. Fold in the candied ginger pieces.

Roll the dough out (I did mine in two batches) on a lightly floured surface. You want to try for between 1/4" and 1/2" thick.

Use a large heart shape to cut the dough. Re-roll the extras until you are out of dough. For half of the hearts, cut another, smaller heart in the middle to form a window. You'll want to have even numbers of tops to bottoms. Place the cookies on a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.

Place the cookies in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You want the cookies firm, but not too browned.

Allow the biscuits to cool on the tray for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble, dust the cookies with the cutouts with powdered sugar.

Add a dollop of jam to the full rounds and sandwich the cookies together.