By Shanta Nimbark-Sacharoff 

I intentionally do not prepare many desserts as most of them require an unhealthy amount of sugar and butter. Pies and cookies are some of the exceptions as both can use fresh fruits in season and they can be modified to lower the fat and sugar contents.  

Making cookies with my kids was our favorite family pastime. Cookies are simple to make and do not require many ingredients or tools. No sharp knives to handle and no electric gadgets necessary.  Yet, kids can learn how to measure, how to mix and how to time each step of the process. 

My personal preference for jam-drop cookies is twofold. We can use the abundance of winter berries to make the jam for the cookies. And the cookies make beautiful edible gifts. 

So here are the quick and easy steps to make jam-drop cookies. 

¼ cup homemade (or store-bought) strawberry jam

1 egg (or 2 to 3 tablespoons dairy-free milk)

½ cup butter or vegan spread, cut into small bits and kept at room temperature

¾ or 1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cup all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt 

First make the jam using the method described in my cooking column on RichmondSunsetNews.com dated Aug. 15, 2023. Or you can use the store-bought jam. Set it aside.

Combine the egg, butter (or vegan spread), sugar and vanilla extract using an electric mixer at low speed or with a manual whisk. For the vegan recipe, you can add 2 to 3 tablespoons of dairy-free milk instead of the egg. 

In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, add the salt and mix these ingredients using a fork. Next, combine the wet ingredients with the flour using the slow speed of the mixer or by hand until they start to form a mass, but do not overmix. Transfer the mixture onto a board and form into a ball or into a log shape. Place the dough in a container with a lid and refrigerate for an hour or longer. This is an important step. You can leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator, leave it at room temperature to soften a bit so that you can break it into small pieces. 

To bake the cookies, set the oven at 350 degrees. Separate the cookie dough into 20 to 24 small pieces and form them into small balls (the size of a small plum). Set the balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, a few inches apart. (They will flatten and enlarge as they bake.) Next, using your thumb or a finger, create a small well in the center of each cookie and carefully put a ¼ to ½ teaspoon of jam into each of the wells. Don’t put too much jam as it would ooze out the center while baking. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Check after the 12 minutes to see if the cookies are lightly brown at the bottom. They will harden as they cool. Take out the cookies, let them rest for a few minutes and then transfer them onto a platter. Or store them in a container with a tight-fitting lid. 

Makes 20 to 24 cookies.

Recipes by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, copyright 2024. Shanta is a Sunset District resident and the author of “Cooking Together” and “Flavors of India,” available at Other Avenues Food Store at 3930 Judah St. Shanta writes recipes and articles on food and nutrition. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking classes at her home and gives cooking demonstrations for the public at SFPL branches frequently which you can find by viewing San Francisco Public Library’s event page. You can also view her recipes via videos on YouTube by searching Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff’s YouTube videos.