½batchVanilla Sugar Cookie Dough,see notes for recipe link
Raspberry Buttercream
½cupunsalted butter,softened to room temperature
¼cupseedless raspberry jam
½tspvanilla extract
2cupspowdered sugar
1tspmeringue powder
⅛tspcoarse Kosher salt(if using table salt, use half the amount)
Decorations
1egg white
¼cupwhite and/or pink sanding sugar
¼cupwhite and/or pink coarse sparkling sugar
Instructions
Cookies
Prepare the 1/2 batch of Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough as instructed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 20 minutes before rolling out.
Line several large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dust a clean work surface with flour, and roll the dough out to an even thickness of about 1/8 inch thick, using more flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
Use a 1 1/2 inch round cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, placing them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Gather up the scraps of dough, re-roll the dough and continue cutting cookies.I was able to cut 54 cookies, for a total of 27 assembled sandwich cookies.
If you're stamping the cookies with short phrases, snap together your alphabet embossers, dust in flour, and stamp the cookies firmly enough to leave a clear impression, but not so deep that you cut through the cookie.
If coating the cookies in sanding sugar and/or sparkling sugar, lightly brush the tops of the cookies with egg white, then dip in the the sugar.
Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator and chill for 45 minutes; the chilling helps prevent the cookies from spreading.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the chilled cookies on the center oven rack for about 8 – 8 1/2 minutes, until you no longer see any wet patches of dough.
Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Buttercream
With an electric mixer, beat the softened butter, raspberry jam and vanilla extract for 1 minute until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt on low speed, mixing to combine. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. If the buttercream is too thick, add a little milk, one teaspoon at a time. It should be thicker for filling cookies, though, than what you'd use to frost a cake.
Fit a piping bag with a small open star tip, such as #32, and fill with buttercream.
Turn over half of the cooled cookies. Pipe a swirl of buttercream onto the bottoms of half the cookies, then top each with another cookie to make a sandwich.
Notes
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough RecipeStore leftover sandwich cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for 3-6 months.