Russian Kasha & Jam Cookies

By gnikylime

Russians love to mix jams into various kashas (porridges) for breakfast. For a Russian movie night, I decided to modify an oatmeal thumbprint cookie in homage to the traditional breakfast. Russians also love tea and jam, so these would be perfect served with the beverage. Strawberry and raspberry jams are made at dachas, but cloudberry and lingonberry are also popular in the north. If you can buy the jam/preserves at Ikea, then it's probably popular in Russia as well. In fact, I guess the first time I had cloudberry jam swirled into porridge was in Sweden. (This recipe was taken or modified from a blog, but unfortunately, I don't know what the link was anymore.)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup berry jam or preserves
• 1 stick [113 g] butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups finely ground oatmeal (I prefer quick Irish oats.)
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables (butter and sugar).
3. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients (egg and vanilla). Whisk together until smooth.
4. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
7. Shape dough into balls--about 1 tablespoon each.
8. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
9. Use a 1/8-t. measuring spoon to make an indentation in each dough ball. Fill each indentation with a heaping 1/8 teaspoon of the jam.
10. Bake at 350F/175C for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.