MAKES 50 • PREP & CHILL: ABOUT 1 HR 10 MIN • BAKE: 8 TO 10 MIN PER BATCH
cup pecan halves
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting
2½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup each seedless red raspberry jam and apricot jam
You also need: 2-in. and 1-in. star cookie cutters
1 Heat oven to 350°F. Toast nuts 5 to 7 minutes until fragrant. Cool completely. Leave open heating.
2 Pulse nuts and ¼ cup flour in food processor until nuts are finely ground. Whisk nut mixture, remaining flour and salt in a bowl to combine.
3 Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed to blend. On low speed, beat in flour mixture. Divide dough in fourths; roll each portion between sheets of wax paper to 
in. thick. Slide dough onto baking sheets, stacking sheets of dough. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
4 Peel top paper off 1 sheet of dough. Cut stars with floured 2-in. cutter. Place 1 in. apart on baking sheets.
5 Bake 8 to 10 minutes until lightly golden at edges. Cool slightly on sheet on a wire rack, then transfer to rack to cool completely. Press scraps together and refrigerate.
6 Repeat with another sheet of dough. Transfer to baking sheet; with floured 1-in. star cutter, cut out centers. Carefully remove centers; add to scraps.
7 Bake and cool cutouts as above.
8 Repeat with remaining dough.
9 To assemble: Gently spread a scant teaspoon jam on each whole cookie. Dust cutouts with confectioners’ sugar. Place on top of whole cookies.
PER COOKIE: 113 cal, 1 g pro, 13 g car, 0 g fiber, 7 g fat (4 g sat fat), 14 mg chol, 25 mg sod
Storage tip: Store filled cookies airtight in a single layer; refrigerate up to 1 week. Unfilled, freeze up to 3 months.
