Empire Biscuits are a delicious and popular biscuit or  cookie made of two shortbread cookies sandwiched around a generous  portion of jam filling, then topped with icing and a cherry.

Ingredients

Biscuit Ingredients 2 cups butter (unsalted, softened at room temperature) 1 cup sugar 4 cups all-purpose flour (sifted) ¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter) Icing, Filling and Topping 1 cup raspberry preserves 8 cups  confectioners sugar 1 cup milk ½ teaspoon lemon extract  24 maraschino cherries ( 12 glace cherries

Cream the butter and sugar. Combine the butter with the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix the butter  and sugar together until smooth and light in color.

Cream the butter and sugar. Combine the butter with the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix the butter  and sugar together until smooth and light in color.

Add flour. Sift the flour using a sifter or fine-mesh sieve over a medium-size mixing bowl. Add the sifted flour gradually to the shortbread dough.

Stir until combined. The shortbread will form a loose sticky dough.

Roll out the shortbread dough. Turn the shortbread dough out onto a lightly floured working surface.

Cut out the cookies. Use a round cookie or biscuit cutter ( smooth or scalloped ) that is 2 - 2 ½ inches in diameter to cut your shortbread cookies.

Bake the cookies. Place the baking sheet in the middle of your oven's center rack and bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 8-10 minutes.

Cool. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and set the baking sheet on a wire cooling rack to cool slightly.

Spread the filling. Turn half of your shortbread cookies so that the bottom is facing upward and spread the jam on these upturned cookies.

Spread the icing.  For more details on this recipe or to check out my others please visit BakeItWithLove.com