Napolitaines de l'ile Maurice

No National celebrations would be complete in Mauritius without Napolitaines ! The famous buttery, melt in your mouth cookies sealed with strawberry jam and the traditional pink icing on top is the national sweet treat of the island. Not sure of the origin of those delightful cookies but they certainly  bring back lots of childhood memories. Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS FOR THE COOKIES :

4 Cups all purpose flour
2 cups of butter softened
1/2 tsp salt
Red fruit jam (Strawberry or Raspberry)

FOR THE ICING :

4 Cups of icing sugar
Couple fo tbs of cold water
1 pinch of pink food coloring

METHOD :

Heat oven to 375 degrees C
Mix flour , salt and butter
Work dough so that it comes together into one big ball (DO NOT OVERWORK DOUGH) - This step can be done in a food processor as well
Chill slightly in the fridge (5-10 mins)
Roll dough out (approximately 1/2 inch in thickness) and use a cookie cutter to cut into shapes of choice - Traditionally small circles preferred
Bake in oven for around 15 mins - cookies should not turn brown
Remove from oven and place tray on rack and allow to cool completely

IMPORTANT - Do not move cookies while still hot as they will break into pieces- It is critical to allow them to cool completely

Once cookies are completely cool, sandwich 2 cookies with jam (take one cookie , flat surface down and put some jam on top , now take another cookie and place flat surface downward on the jam )

ICING :

Add water and coloring to icing sugar
Mix well
Put icing on each cookie

ENJOY !