Ukrainian cookies with jam

Ukrainian meat grinder cookies are not just ordinary shortbread pastries … In my country, many generations grew up on these spritz cookies with jam, and for me, they will always remind my carefree childhood and sweet grandma’s smile

Ukrainian meat grinder cookies occupy a special place in my heart

Somehow, yesterday my mind went back to my childhood and I remembered meat grinder cookies (their shape resembled a head of corn, so at home, we always called them “Sweet corn cookies” or spritz cookies with jam). My granny used to make them rather often. She liked to stick the ready shortbread cookies together using a homemade jam. But I have always been very stubborn and had my own procedure for eating these sweets: first I had to lick off the jam and then enjoyed the Ukrainian cookies themselves…

Granny’s spritz cookies with jam recipe

Yesterday my sons asked me to make some sweets together with them, so I found my granny’s recipe for meat grinder cookies. We baked them and then ate them all in no time! I don’t even know who ate more: my husband Robert (who discovered the spritz cookies with jam from my childhood for the first time and was grumbling why I had never made so delicious sweets before), my sons Alessio and Giuliano (that were proudly eating their own cookies) or me, that seemed to be back 25 years…

Ingredients:

If you are a happy digital kitchen scale owner, I highly recommend using it instead of cups and spoons. Especially when it comes to baking recipes. A scale gives you far more accurate results than volume measurements (everyone scoops ingredients differently). Trust me, using a kitchen scale to measure ingredients will take your baking to a new level.

• Flour. Plain all-purpose flour is just perfect for this recipe
• Butter (soft at room temperature)
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla powder
• Lemon or orange zest
• Baking powder

+ a special cookie press attachment for a meat grinder

Ukrainian cookies step-by-step recipe

Put flour, butter, sugar and baking powder together

Mix to get crumbs

Add grated lemon zest, vanilla and eggs

Mix them to get a soft and smooth pastry. Knead it into a ball, cover with plastic food wrap and leave it in a fridge for 30 minutes

Use a meat grinder with a cookie press attachment (or a cookie press) to make the cookies (just put a little of dough inside the meat grinder and let it come out through the cookie attachment, then cut the cookie bar into portions about 5 cm/2 inches long)

Line the cookies out on a baking sheet covered with a parchment

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and bake the meat grinder cookies for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown color.

What jam can I use for these Ukrainian cookies

Any thick jam is perfect for these meat grinder cookies. My favorite variants are:

• apricot jam
• peach jam
• strawberry jam
• plum jam

But feel free to use your favorite jam, Ukrainian cookies won’t delude you in any case.

Tried this recipe? Please leave a comment with Star Ratings ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. I will really appreciate it.
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