This is a deliciously different way to prepare toasted pumpkin seeds. It’s simple to prepare and difficult to goof up. You won’t be able to stop once you start eating these!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 mins |
| Servings: | 48 |
| Yield: | 4 dozen |
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 cup raspberry preserves
- 24 maraschino cherries
- 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour until well blended. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a cookie cutter.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Sandwich one teaspoon of jam between two cookies. Repeat with remaining cookies. In a medium bowl, gradually stir the milk into the confectioners’ sugar until the icing is of a spreadable consistency. Spread on top of the sandwiched cookies. Top each cookie with half of a cherry while the icing is still wet.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 223 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 21 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 56 mg |
| Sugars | 28 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Taste just like my Grandma’s! After my grandparents passed, we couldn’t find the recipe and I happened to stumble upon this and I make them every year now!
The shortbread is excellent! Wouldn’t change a thing
I made a half batch of these. I used a 2.5” cookie cutter and I got 13 whole empire biscuits. (That would have been 26 whole cookies.) The shortbread isn’t too sweet, that’s good when there is jam and icing on them.
Put the custard powder in, like one of your other cooks suggested..very nice colour and texture! They melt in your mouth!
I’ve been making this recipe for a few years now, it’s become a Christmas tradition in my family now. This weekend I made three batches for a Mother’s Day Tea by request.
My Dad always talked about how is Grandmother made these cookies. Although I’ve posted meals cooked with pictures, my wife is the baker in our family. So my wife made these cookies and I can see why my Dad raved about them.
I have made several versions of Imperial cookies and these are at the top. They take some time, but worth it. I found that the glaze icing recipe was at least double of what was needed however to cover all the cookies. Would half the icing next time.
My mom made these every Christmas. This is the 1st time I tried, they turned out awesome, I need to practice more putting on the icing lol!
I made this for my son’s Scottish-themed 1st birthday party. They were a hit! I halved the amount of frosting, as other reviewers suggested. I also added about a teaspoon on almond extract to give it a cherry flavor. I also changed the raspberry preserves to strawberry, only because my husband doesn’t like raspberry. As one reviewer suggested, I heated the preserves to make the cookies stick together better. This was definitely a good idea. It made 20 finished cookies.
I use Madagascar vanilla and Madagascar vanilla beans, freshly scraped from their pods. We also add almond extract to the icing for enhanced flavor. We prefer our Empire Biscuits to be about 2″ in diameter too.
Delicious! Ended up with a pint of left over frosting. So maybe cut the frosting recipe in half.
this recipe is the best empire biscuits I’ve made biscuit just melts in the mouth ideal for a cuppa or treat
These are delicious. Next time I would use a smaller cookie cutter
this was amazing loved it, will make many more
I use this recipe as my Christmas cookie cut out recipe every year. My kids complain if I try any other. It is so simple and quick. When I use it for empire biscuits, I don’t add the cherry but use cherry preserves and let it squeeze up the center. I also add a bit of vanilla…just because. For my cutouts I frost with homemade buttercream and sprinkle with colored sugar. Don’t be surprised that the cookie is less sweet then some sugar cookies…it is a good base when adding frosting, sugar, and jam after baking. Balances out to be a wonderful Christmas treat.
Great recipe, everyone loves them! Massively too much icing sugar and also too much milk… Otherwise tasty stuff!
I am not a baker but I have to say this was easy to make and it was also very delicious.
Delicious! Be sure to roll the dough out pretty thin – otherwise it’s a pretty hefty cookie.
Made them for a school project. They were lit, the whole class dabbed!
Came from a scottish family – 1st generation American. When our Nanny (grandmother) passed most of her recipes were lost ??. We did however make these wonder treats w/the addition of Birds Custard.
Everyone loves these cookies! I made it slightly different – added flour to the butter/sugar until it was a workable consistency, rather than throwing in all 4 cups (I used less). I found the cook time to be at 7 mins, so it was just golden on the bottom, and not brown. Also, something to note: when I calculated the calories, it worked out to roughly 400/finished cookie.