youthsweets | Jupiter Shop

Get the butter out of the refrigerator the night before or a few hours before you plan to bake to let it come to room temperature.

Combine the unsalted butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat together until combined and lightened in color.
Add the egg, salt and vanilla. Mix to combine.
Add in ⅓ of the flour at a time, mixing in between, just until combined.

Remove ⅔ of the dough from the bowl of the stand mixer. To the remaining ⅓ of the dough add the matcha powder (or food coloring) and mix until completely combined. I like to do this by hand with gloves on.
Wrap and chill each of the doughs in cling wrap for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and the mandarin zest. Rub together to express the oils from the zest. Add the rest of the jam ingredients (cranberries, pinch of salt and the juice of the mandarins) and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Mash the berries as much or as little as you’d like.
Remove to a bowl and cover to cool completely before using.

Roll out each dough to 5/8-inch thick on a floured surface.
Punch out the cookies using the cookie cutter of your choice. I used a square cookie cutter and cut out a small christmas tree and star in some of the centers.
Place the cookies 1-inch apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat. I like to bake similar cookies together, bottoms (without cutouts) on one tray, tops (with cutouts) on another tray and the punched out designs (tiny stars and trees) on another since those will take less time in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the trays in the freezer to freeze solid while the oven preheats (ideally for about 10 minutes).
Bake for 9-11 minutes. Keep a close eye as they bake quickly and bake time can vary from oven to oven and shape to shape. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Pipe or spoon a bit of jam on each of the bottoms. Place the tops with cutouts on top. Dust with powdered sugar.
Optionally, glaze some of the cookies. Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk, adding more lemon juice or water as needed. I removed some of the glaze to a small bowl and mixed in sifted matcha powder to color it. Dip cooled cookies in the glaze, shaking off the excess. Pipe designs on top or leave plain.