This holiday season, try the most delicious and treasured recipe on Balkan. Vanilice are incredibly soft and indulging sandwich cookies with which everyone falls in love at a first bite. Super simple recipe and soft, delicious cookies, as a result, will make your festive season even sweeter.

Even though this year has been challenging in many ways, Christmas is time to set back and enjoy the little things life has offered us. Bake some cookies, turn up the Christmas music, and enjoy the candlelight and the tree.
As this year, I can not visit my family and friends back home, I decided to bake all the goodies from my childhood, including these amazingly soft sandwich cookies with marmalade, or as we originally call them, Vanilice.
This recipe is maybe one of the most popular recipes in Balkan countries and is usually made for special occasions. They are simply a must-have when it comes to Christmas baking, and today's recipe has been used in my family for generations. Whereas they might look simple, they bring so many memories along, from Christmases spent with family, my grandparents, and the time when I used to bake them with my mom and sisters.
Mom always found a way to include us in baking, and making these cookies was a really special, sweet project my sisters and I loved. Our job was to fill them with marmalade and then pass them through the icing sugar with our tiny, sticky hands. Many of them were eaten right away, just to confirm that the recipe is right.

The recipe is very straightforward and easy to make, and once you try them, you will bake batches and batches more. The secret about these cookies is that the more they last, the better they get - so don't worry about making too many - these cookies will be perfect even after a few days after the baking.

The dough is made with lard instead of butter, which makes them incredibly soft and delicious. The dough is easy to make, with simple ingredients, and from one batch, you can have around 26 to 30 cookies, depending on the size you have. We usually fill them with my mom's homemade cornelian berry jam, but any good quality jam could work. Ensure it's not too runny, as assembling might get tricky if your jam is not firm enough. Just a half teaspoon of marmalade is enough for one cookie as in that way, they are perfectly bite-size cookies that you can serve during the holidays.

Try making them this holiday season, and make sure to leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @thehungryapron, as I would love to hear your opinion!

I wish you all Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Soft Sandwich Christmas Cookies
Vanilice
Marija Gvozdenovic

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2O 

200g high-quality lard*

5 tbsp sugar

Zest of ½ lemon

1 egg and 1 egg yolk

400-500g all-purpose flour*

Jam of your choice

Icing sugar for dusting

METHOD

In a large bowl, with a hand mixer beat the lard until soft and creamy for about 2 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and lemon zest. Beat on medium until incorporated. Add in sugar, gradually add flour, and mix everything with a spatula or with your hands. The dough is ready when soft and not sticky to touch. Leave the dough to rest a room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, make cookies using a small cup, or a round cookie cutter. The perfect diameter is around 4cm.

Bake for around 12-15 minutes, just until the edges are slightly golden. The cookies should remain bright and almost white. Let them cool completely, then assemble by making cookie sandwiches - add a ½ tsp of marmalade on the cookie's bottom side, then cover with another cookie, so they form a sandwich. In a shallow bowl, place icing, sugar, and roll every cookie sandwich until both sides are covered. Repeat until all your cookies are used.

These cookies can be stored for a week in an air-tight container. They are better with time, so you can prepare more in advance without worrying that they will dry. You can freeze them as well for 3 months.

*Note: If you don't have lard, you can use butter or shortening as well, but lard is highly recommended as it makes these cookies extremely soft.
As for flour, start adding a bit at a time. The dough is ready once it doesn't stick to your hands.