Holiday cookie recipe: Banbury tarts

Jacqueline Shubitowski of Sherman Oaks was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these Banbury tarts:

“My mother-in-law, Ruth Shubitowski, makes wonderful baked goods, but her Christmas cookies are the best.... Banbury tarts are included in the Christmas package year after year, and they’re still our favorite.”

Banbury tarts are one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we’ve collected in our updated “Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies” e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources including world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we’ve collected in our “Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.” The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s.

Each book is $4.99. They are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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Banbury tarts

Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Servings: About 5 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter

1 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups flour

Seedless jelly or jam (preferably currant or raspberry)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, then the vanilla. Slowly beat in the flour until combined and smooth to form the dough (the dough will be a bit stiff at the end, and you may need to add the last cup of flour by hand).

3. Form the dough into small balls and make a depression in the middle with your thumb. Spoon a teaspoon or so of jelly in the depression. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Each of 5 dozen cookies: 105 calories; 1 gram protein; 14 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 5 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 19 mg cholesterol; 7 grams sugar; 3 mg sodium.