Blackberry-Cinnamon Diagonals
By Andrea GearyPublished on October 2, 2023
Time
1 hour plus 55 minutes cooling and setting
Yield
Makes 32 cookies
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We recommend measuring the flour and sugar by weight. You can use an overturned rimmed baking sheet instead of a rimless baking sheet and a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer. Smucker's seedless blackberry jam works well here. A pastry bag makes it easy to fill the troughs with jam, but if you don't have one, you can use a small spoon.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Stop mixer. Add flour and mix on low speed until mixture comes together in crumbly dough, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl halfway through mixing. Transfer to work surface and knead gently until dough forms smooth ball.
- Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Gently roll and pinch each piece into 14-inch log (if dough cracks, pinch it back together). Arrange logs lengthwise on prepared sheet. Press your index finger along length of 1 log to create trough that is ¾ inch wide and ¼ inch to ⅓ inch deep, using fingers of your other hand to mold sides. Repeat with remaining logs.
- Whisk jam and lemon juice in bowl until smooth. Transfer mixture to piping bag fitted with ¼-inch round tip and pipe evenly among troughs. Bake until logs are lightly browned and firm to touch, about 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Cool on sheet until just warm to touch.
- Gently slide logs into center of sheet until touching. Whisk confectioners' sugar and water in small bowl until smooth. (If mixture is too thick to drizzle, whisk in more water ½ teaspoon at a time.) Using spoon, drizzle icing over cookies. Let sit until icing is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Run thin spatula under 1 log to release from parchment. Carefully transfer log to cutting board. Using sharp chef's knife at 45-degree angle, trim ½ inch from each end of log and discard trim. Slice remaining length on diagonal into 8 pieces. Repeat with remaining logs. Serve. (Store cookies at room temperature for up to 6 days.)
Time
1 hour plus 55 minutes cooling and settingYield
Makes 32 cookiesIngredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Our jam diagonals are a slightly more sophisticated form of thumbprint cookies, but they're even easier and quicker to make. We started by mixing together a simple shortbread dough, but instead of portioning, rolling, and filling individual cookies, we formed four long logs, made a channel down the center of each, and filled the channels with jam. A little lemon juice added to the jam prevented it from drying out during baking and kept the flavor tangy, making it a great match for the buttery cookie. A quick postbake drizzle with a simple icing made these cookies fancy enough to grace a holiday cookie platter, and their nearly one-week shelf life means they can be baked well in advance—a boon for the busy holiday baker.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
We recommend measuring the flour and sugar by weight. You can use an overturned rimmed baking sheet instead of a rimless baking sheet and a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer. Smucker's seedless blackberry jam works well here. A pastry bag makes it easy to fill the troughs with jam, but if you don't have one, you can use a small spoon.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Stop mixer. Add flour and mix on low speed until mixture comes together in crumbly dough, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl halfway through mixing. Transfer to work surface and knead gently until dough forms smooth ball.
- Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Gently roll and pinch each piece into 14-inch log (if dough cracks, pinch it back together). Arrange logs lengthwise on prepared sheet. Press your index finger along length of 1 log to create trough that is ¾ inch wide and ¼ inch to ⅓ inch deep, using fingers of your other hand to mold sides. Repeat with remaining logs.
- Whisk jam and lemon juice in bowl until smooth. Transfer mixture to piping bag fitted with ¼-inch round tip and pipe evenly among troughs. Bake until logs are lightly browned and firm to touch, about 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Cool on sheet until just warm to touch.
- Gently slide logs into center of sheet until touching. Whisk confectioners' sugar and water in small bowl until smooth. (If mixture is too thick to drizzle, whisk in more water ½ teaspoon at a time.) Using spoon, drizzle icing over cookies. Let sit until icing is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Run thin spatula under 1 log to release from parchment. Carefully transfer log to cutting board. Using sharp chef's knife at 45-degree angle, trim ½ inch from each end of log and discard trim. Slice remaining length on diagonal into 8 pieces. Repeat with remaining logs. Serve. (Store cookies at room temperature for up to 6 days.)
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