Walnut and Jam Shortbread

These Walnut and Jam Shortbread cookies are a family heirloom recipe.

I am on a baking spree, so I decided to dust off this recipe from my Mom, which I hadn’t made in years. It features shortbread with minced walnuts that are formed into logs, chilled, and sliced. Once baked, they are made into cute little sandwich cookies filled with your favorite jam. They are finished with a flourish of icing. They do take a little effort, but they are a buttery, nutty, fruity, combination that is simply delightful with a steaming cup of coffee or tea.

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Legacy of a Cookie

I have to share a funny tale about these cookies. The original name of the recipe is Filbert Slice-ups, according to my Mom. My copy is a barely legible piece of paper that says “nuts” on the ingredients list. Assuming that meant filberts (being the smart person I am), I asked Mom where she normally bought her filberts. She said she’d never used filberts, which I thought was pretty amusing. She always used walnuts, so, I decided to do the same. I actually added a small amount of pecans too because I didn’t have quite enough walnuts.

Walnut and Jam Shortbread Tips & Tricks

Nuts – As mentioned above, you can use walnuts, pecans, or filberts in these shortbread cookies. The important point is to chop them fairly small. Otherwise, a coarsely chopped nut makes the dough more difficult to slice. I speak from experience.

Temperature – The dough takes two to three hours to firm in the refrigerator so it can be sliced. If you start slicing and it’s too soft, chill the dough longer. If it’s too firm, let the dough sit on the counter to warm up.

Shaping Cookies – My Mom always shaped her dough into a square-shaped log so her cookies were small squares. I opted to go with round cookies. Of course, either option works. If the slices get mishappen as you’re slicing the dough, you can pat them back into shape. That’s because the dough gets pliable as you start working with it.

Jam – I used seedless raspberry jam on part of my batch and honey fig jam on the rest. Go lightly on the jam because it will spread out as you lightly press the cookies together. See the photo above.

Icing – This simple icing which is made with powdered sugar and milk can be drizzled on like I did. Or you can spread it on like the original recipe suggests and top with additional finely chopped nuts.

Can’t Get Enough Cookies?

Here are a few of my additional favorite cookie recipes for the holidays or any time you want a sweet treat.