This is a positively scrumptious cookie and it's very easy to make. I have the following recommendations. (1) The recipe calls for one cup of butter. Normally, when I am baking a cupcake or bread, I will substitute unsweetened applesauce for butter. I do not recommend that for this cookie, as it will not replicate the texture of the butter. I did, however, use 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 low calorie margarine. In terms of calories, butter and margarine both have around 35 calories and 4g of fat per teaspoon (however I did use Smart Balance, which is lower in calories and fat). I did this because butter adds the creamy texture but margarine keeps the cookie from deflating or spreading out too much and I wanted to maintain the hole in the cookie where the strawberry preserves were. (2) I created the hole in the cookie by sticking a butter knife in the top and rotating it (you can use your finger to perfect the well). (3) I stuck the dough in the freezer for twenty minutes before rolling into balls (the size of my cookie balls was between 1 inch and 1 and 1/2 inches). (4) For the quantity of jam to use, I used a very full (rounded) 1/4 teaspoon of strawberry preserves per cookie. I baked for 12 minutes and the cookies came out perfectly. I followed the quantities specified and wound up with 30 cookies. The flavor of this cookie is buttery and delicious. I love them. Thank you for the recipe!

A simple recipe, yet so very delicious.

I made these using apple butter, and they were INCREDIBLE!!!! I have made these probably at least once a month for the past year, and love to try new sorts or jams for the filling! They are out of this world!!!! Thanks so much for posting!!!!

These cookies were really good! I popped the dough in the fridge for a few minutes before shaping it into the cookies. It made the dough a little easier to work with. I also used the back of a spoon to make the well for the jam. After making each well, I dusted the back of the spoon with flour just so it would not stick to the next cookie. I think the important thing is to not use too much jam in the middle of each cookie, or else it will spill out over the edges of the well and make a sticky mess. Also, my cookies took about 15-17 minutes to bake.

These were so easy and so good! Very soft too, even several days later!

These were great! A nice easy cookie that the kids can help make, thanks