Prize-Winning Cream Cheese Pillows

Here it is, like I promised, the recipe for my favorite Christmas cookie and award-winning confection: cream cheese pillows.

My mom has been making these forever. The recipe is a favorite from her collection of Wisconsin Electric Company cookbooks. You can find it in the 1968 edition, and if you’re curious, the whole set is available in PDF form online – pretty rad.

To make these you’ll need:

• 1 cup flour
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter
• Jam
• Cinnamon sugar

To start, cream softened butter and cream cheese together. Once those are blended, mix in the flour. Once you’ve got a nice dough, wrap it in wax paper and chill for a half hour (or more). And you read that right – there’s zero sugar in this dough. It’s surprising, I know, but these get all their sweetness from the jam and cinnamon sugar later.

Once your dough is chilled, dust with a little flour and roll it out to about ¼” thick. Then you’ll cut out circles. I used this little cordial glass to get the right size – about 1 ½”.

Then you want to break out that jam. I used a few tablespoons of black raspberry jam stirred up with about a teaspoon of water just to make it smoother consistency. Spoon the tiniest drop into the center of your circles. You seriously don’t want more than just a pony bead-sized amount, otherwise it will seep out all over the place.

Next, you’ll wet the outside of each circle with a little bit of water. You could use a little pastry brush if you want, but your finger will do the job just fine. Then crimp each half circle together with a fork. You can dip the fork in a little flour if needed to prevent it from sticking. They’ll end up looking like awesome little cookie calzones.

Then pop them into the oven at 375ºF for 13-14 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden. As soon you take them out of the oven, toss them in a bowl full of cinnamon sugar. Then place on a rack (or paper bag) to cool.

Like I said, these were a hit. Give them a try and let me know what you think!