Raspberry Cream Cheese Cookies

I've already mentioned my favorite bakery - Sunrise Bakery. This is the kind of place that at 11:30 in the morning is already running out of stuff, it's that good. I almost always , OK always, pick up a cookie along with my usual sandwich. I passed on the chocolate chip cookie that is as big as my head and contains at least three times as many chips as an average cookie for a pretty cream cheese sandwich cooking drizzled with pink frosting. It was so good that I started my weekend trying to find a similar recipe to make my own.

The recipe below from http://ricksalicious.blogspot.com is not an exact replication, but close. I wanted to tint the icing pink as an early Valentine's Day treat. Apparently I used the last of the red food coloring at Christmas but found some rose colored gel coloring that looked like the right color. A teeny little bit of the rose gel created a neon pink circa 1982. A drop of blue coloring toned the color down a bit to more of a slightly neon raspberry. I plan on making these again, but will make the following changes: 1) add more sugar to the dough, 2) flip the dough while rolling for a prettier presentation, and 3) use a 1-inch cutter and make sandwiches.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Cookies
adapted from recipe found at The Ricksalicious Life

Crust:
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt

Filling:
1 cup raspberry preserves

Icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp. almond extract
1 Tbsp. milk (or more to reach coating consistency)

Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together sugar, butter, and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until incorporated. Add almond extract and mix well. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix just until smooth dough forms. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut int to 3" diameter circles with a cookie cutter or top of a drinking glass.

Filling: Put one teaspoon of raspberry preserves in the middle of each uncooked circle, and then fold over and press down lightly with fingers. Bake 12 - 15 minutes, or until the bottom of each tart begins to turn golden brown. Remove from cooking trays to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Icing: Combine softened cream cheese and milk in a bowl and whisk together until combined. Add powdered sugar and almond extract and continue to whisk until a thick but pourable consistency. Add milk a little at a time if necessary to reach the right thickness. Spread about one teaspoon on each tart and let stand to dry 1 - 2 hours.