Vanilice (Serbian Sandwich Cookies)

Instructions

• Combine shortening and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl; cut with a pastry knife until crumbly. Add egg and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Work in 2 cups flour with your hands; knead until stiff and similar in consistency to pie dough.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat® mats.
• Dust a work surface generously with flour and set dough on top. Roll dough with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut into rounds with a 1 3/4-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass. For every 2 cookies you cut, use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a hole or shape out of the second cookie; the cut-out cookies will be placed on top of the whole cookies when filled.
• Re-roll the dough and continue cutting out cookies until all the dough is used up. You should have an equal number of whole and cut-out cookies. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes; do not let the cookies brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before carefully transferring onto wire racks. The cookies will be crumbly and fragile while still hot so handle carefully. Let cool completely.
• Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar into a bowl. Spread 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon apricot jam onto each whole cookie, then place a cut-out cookie on top. Dip the filled cookies in sugar until well coated on both sides.