The Cookie Recipe You'll Find in Every Midwestern Cookie Tin (2024)

For the apricot and orange blossom lekvar (makes about 2 1/2 cups):

• 1 pound

  dried apricots

• 2/3 cup

  granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon

  freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Pinch fine sea salt

• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons

  orange blossom water, to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon

  vanilla extract

For the dough:

• 4 ounces

  full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1 stick

  unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 3 tablespoons

  granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons

  finely grated orange zest

• 1 teaspoon

  vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon

  almond extract

• 1/2 teaspoon

  fine sea salt

• 1 cup

  unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for dusting

• Powdered sugar, for dusting

For the filling:

• 1 cup

  Apricot and Orange Blossom Lekvar

Make the levkar filling:

1. In a 3-quart lidded saucepan, place the apricots and cover with them water by about 1 inch. Cover, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, add the sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and stir to combine. Replace the lid. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is softened, about 20 minutes.

2. Remove the lid from the pan and continue to simmer, stirring often, until the excess liquid has evaporated and the lekvar becomes thick and jammy and breaks down easily with a fork, about 10 minutes more. Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor or blender. Blend until nearly smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of the orange blossom water and the vanilla. Blend for 30 seconds more. Taste, adding more orange blossom water, if you like. Pour the lekvar into a heatproof container and let cool uncovered at room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 1 year.

Prepare the dough:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest, vanilla, almond extract, and salt, and beat for 1 minute more. Reduce the speed to low and gradually stir in the flour. To avoid overmixing, when a few streaks of flour remain finish mixing the dough by hand. Line a work surface with plastic wrap and turn out the dough onto it. Gently pat the dough into a rectangle and wrap tightly. Chill at least 2 hours, or overnight.

2. Position an oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. To shape the cookies, lightly dust a work surface with flour. Roll out the dough to a rough 13x17-inch rectangle, about 1/16-inch thick (you need a thin dough to get crisp cookies that don’t unfurl while baking). Re-flour the surface as needed to prevent sticking. Use a pizza cutter to trim 1/2 inch from all 4 sides to make a clean, straight-edged 12x16-inch rectangle. From there, cut the dough into 4 dozen (2-inch) squares. Place 1 scant teaspoon of filling in the center of each square, spreading the filling across the square in a diagonal strip. Focusing on the 2 bare corners of the square, fold 1 over the filling, then fold the opposite corner on top, pinching gently to seal.

4. Place the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, 2 dozen to a sheet. (Place 1 sheet of cookies in the refrigerator while you bake the first.) Bake until lightly golden at the bottom and edges, about 20 minutes in total, rotating the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool briefly on the baking sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Dust generously with powdered sugar.