Farm Market Recipe of the Week: Peach Cookies

A perfectly ripe peach, bursting with every bite, is something I cant resist. A couple years ago my world came crashing down when I became allergic to stone fruit. I tried to ignore the symptoms and eat them anyway, but my allergy only got more severe. Two years ago in a moment of weakness, I ate a roasted peach. It was then I realized if they were cooked or canned I could eat them with no symptoms. This last farmers market I was talking to different vendors and made my way over to Jams by Kim. As I walked up, Kim smiled and told me she had a new jam. When I tasted it, I think my smile may have been bigger than hers. It was as though I was back at the orchard biting into a fresh peach still warm from the summer sun. How could she have known peaches are my soft spot? And the even bigger question, how did she hide a peach orchard in that jar? It is truly my pleasure to showcase Kim's Peach Jam in this weeks recipe.

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 10 tbsp butter, softened 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar 1 large egg 2 tbsp sour cream 3/4 tsp vanilla extract Peach Jam, Jams By Kim

Decoration 6 Tbsp milk, divided red and yellow food coloring 1/2 cup granulated sugar fresh mint leaves, for garnish Pastry brush

Directions Preheat oven to 375°F. In a bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. Using a paddle mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add sour cream and mix. With your mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Scoop dough out 1 Tbsp. at a time, and roll dough into a ball with buttered hands. Place balls on cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 14-15 minutes until bottoms are lightly golden brown. Cool cookies on wire rack. Spread about 1 tsp. of peach jam on the bottom of one cookie then gently press another cookie over the jam layer to sandwich them together. Repeat this process with remaining cookies.

To decorate cookies, pour 3 Tbsp. of milk into two small bowls. Tint one bowl of milk with red food coloring until it reaches a vibrant pink, then tint the other bowl of milk with yellow food coloring until it reaches a vibrant yellow. Dip a pastry brush into the yellow tinted milk then paint lightly across both cookies leaving some areas unpainted. Then dip your brush into the red-tinted milk and paint lightly across unpainted areas. Immediately after painting cookie, dip and coat entire cookie with sugar. Insert one or two fresh mint leaves into the side of each cookie if desired. Store in an airtight container.

Next Week Duke Farms & Josh Falzone will host our first of two Farm to Fork Tasting events. For more information, click HERE. To register, click HERE.