GoT: Castle Blackberry Jam Snowball Cookies

Castle Black is going to be in a jam soon. And man has it been a long time coming. By the way, Castle Black is the castle at The Wall, you know, where the Night's Watch is. Where the White Walkers are about to be. Yeah, that's a going to quite a jam.

Castle Black being in a jam is a bad thing, filled with a lot of undead people, and soon to be undead people, but these cookies having jam, is a good thing. A deliciously good thing. No undead are involved in making of these jam filled cookies. 

Oh, and these snowball cookies are wonderful all on their own but with the blackberry jam - muy, muy bueno! And even if you don't make these cookies, get some blackberry jam. Actually, I have a slight confession, I used blackberry preserves. (They came in a prettier jar! I'm such a sucker for good packaging!) Blackberry jam (or preserves) on toast is heavenly. 

Not to go too much on a tangent here, but do you know what the difference is between jam and preserves? How about jam, jelly, and preserves? If you don't, you are not alone. I didn't either. All of them are made of fruit, sugar, and pectin but jelly is made with fruit juice, preserves are made with chunks of fruit in a syrup, and jam is made with fruit pulp or crushed fruit. Now you know! 

So whether you need a treat while watching for the aforementioned jam, which I just know they're going to drag out until at least the end of this season, or you have no clue what I'm talking about and wish I would just knock it off with these ridiculous punny desserts, I hope you make these cookies and enjoy. Or at least pick up some blackberry preserves. 

INGREDIENTS makes about 2 dozen cookies
227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
240 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar, divided
15 grams (1 tbs) vanilla extract
15 grams (1 tbs) water
255 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1.5 grams (¼ tsp) salt
82 grams (¾ cup) pecans, finely chopped
320 grams (½ cup) blackberry jam

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325℉. Line a baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, beat together butter with 60 grams (1/2 cup) of the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, drizzle water over flour and stir together. Then add salt and continue to stir until incorporated. 
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 batches, mixing on low speed, until just combined. Add pecans and mix until combined.
5. Roll out cookie dough into 1-inch size balls. Using your thumb, gently press a shallow hole into half of the balls of cookie dough, making sure not press all the way through.
6. Fill each hole with a scant ¼ tsp of blackberry jam. 
7. With the rest of the balls of cookie dough, gently flatten into a disk and place on top of your jam filled cookie dough halves. Making sure to cover all of the jam. Gently seal edges together and roll into a ball. Place on a cookie sheet and place in refrigerator for half an hour.
8. Bake in two batches, taking half of the cookie dough balls and placing on prepared cookie sheet, at least 2 inches apart. 
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until set but not browned. 
10. Meanwhile, place remaining powdered sugar into a bowl.
11. When cookies are done baking, let cool on sheet until cool enough to touch, but still warm.
12. While still warm, gently roll each cookie in powdered sugar and place on cooling rack. Once completely cool, gently roll again in powdered sugar. Store in airtight container. 

NUTRITION (24 cookies)
calories: 177, total fat: 10 g, saturated fat: 5 g, monosaturated fat: 3 g, polyunsaturated fat: 1 g, cholesterol: 20 mg, sodium: 25 mg, potassium: 16 mg, total carbohydrate: 20 g, dietary fiber: 1 g, sugars: 12 g, protein: 1 g