Belgian Cookies Recipe, also known as Empire Cookies

This holiday season, I have shared quite a few of my favourite cookie & bar recipes with you, but this one is different, it’s special. This recipe for Belgian Cookies is perhaps my all-time favourite cookie recipe, as well a holiday tradition in my family. I have been enjoying these delicious cookies at my Grandma’s house since I was little girl, and have made them a handful of times with my Mom. This year, I made them on my own for the first time; with more than a few text messages to my Mom throughout the process.

I am going to be upfront: these Belgian Cookies are a commitment. There are many steps to making these, some waiting time. And, depending on how many you are making, it can take the better part of your day. I am going to detail my process, as well as all the little tricks I know.

The Cookies

1. Once you make your dough (see recipe at bottom of page), roll it out – I rolled my dough to 1/4″ thick, but in retrospect I probably should have rolled it to 1/6″ or 1/8″
2. Cut out your cookies in the desired shape, bake, and let cool completely
   1. Keep in mind, these are a stacked cookie, so if you want to end up with 30 completed cookies, you need to bake 60 cookies
3. Once cool, I like to pair the cookies up so that they have a partner the same shape, and I like to hide the not-so-pretty ones on the bottoms
4. TIP: Cut your maraschino cherries in half, and place them cut side down on a paper towel – this will allow them to dry and the colour won’t bleed into the icing later

The Assembly

1. Spread seedless raspberry jam onto the bottom cookie – you want enough that it will stick the cookies together, but not so much that it will ooze out
2. Place the top cookie on top, gently squeeze together and set aside. I recommend letting them sit for a short while before continuing, allowing the jam to firm up slightly and secure the cookies together
3. Make the icing – you want it easy to spread but not runny – and spread on the top cookie
4. Place half a maraschino cherry, cut side down, in the middle of the icing

A Few More Tips

• It is important to use white margarine, to avoid your cookies having a yellowish tinge
• Bake time will depend on your oven and your pans – I recommend starting at 8 minutes, and increasing the time by 30 seconds as needed
• I like to use a regular spoon from the cutlery drawer to put on both the jam and the icing – you can scoop it out, drop it on, and then spread with the back of the spoon
• Let these set up for a couple of hours before you package them up or freeze them
• Freezing: you can freeze these as a completed cookie; or you can bake the cookie, freeze them, and assemble them later

This particular time, I baked a double batch of cookies. When rolled out to 1/4″ thick, this yielded 5 dozen cookies plus an extra bit of dough that may have made another half dozen if I had used it. This meant I ended up with 30 completed cookies, for which I needed almost a full 250mL jar of jam and a little less than a double recipe of the icing.

Bake & Enjoy

3 from 2 votes

Print

Belgian Cookies (Empire Cookies)

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 1 cup white margarine
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 scant tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the Icing

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 to 4 tsp water

For the Assembly

• Maraschino cherries jar usually found in baking aisle
• Seedless raspberry jam

Instructions

For the Cookies

1. Cream margarine
2. Add sugar & egg, beat until light
3. Add vanilla, mix
4. Sift flour & baking powder, add in gradually
5. Roll out thinly, and cut out
6. Bake about 8 minutes at 350F - do not brown
7. Cool completely on wire rack

For the Icing

1. Put icing sugar in a bowl
2. Add almond extract
3. Add water, start with 3 tsp, and mix
4. If needed add 1/2 tsp more at a time

For the Assembly

1. Spread jam on a cookie, place second cookie on top, gently press together
2. Set aside, and continue until all cookies are sandwiched with jam
3. Spread icing on top cookie, place maraschino cherry in centre
4. Set aside, and allow to set up for a few hours before packaging or freezing

Sarah

I am a busy mom to 3 kids, so my days are typically filled with tea parties & story books, singing & dancing, crafts (for as long as a 3yo’s attention span will allow) & cuddles. All the while trying to keep up with laundry & cleaning & meals (we have PB&J sandwiches for dinner more often than I’ll ever admit). The days (& weeks, & months) seem to speed past so I try to soak up as much as I can each day.