Raspberry "Surprises"

 Originally, this recipe was named Raspberry Treasures from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Raspberry-Treasures Since I ended up changing things around, I call them my 'Surprises".  I guess because I'm surprised they turned out with how I made them.

INGREDIENTS:

•  1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons sugar (I decided to add this)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ----------------------------------------------
• 1/2 cup raspberry filling* (Recipe was tested using Solo brand filling-- see my note.)
• ----------------------------------------------
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

HOW TO MAKE:

• In mixing bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together.  Beat in vanilla. 
• Combine flour and salt; add to creamed mixture. 
• Divide dough in half; wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• **On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness.  Cut with a floured 3-inch round cookie cutter.  Place 1 teaspoon raspberry filling in the center of each.  Bring three edges together over filling, overlapping slightly (a small amount of filling with show); pinch edges gently.  In a small bowl, beat egg and water together until smooth; brush over dough.
• Place 1-inch apart on ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 375-degrees for 10-12 minutes or until your oven has them a light golden brown.  Cool on pan for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.  Yield:  2 dozen if you make the tripod-shaped cookies.

*  I did NOT have raspberry 'filling' on hand, but I DID have raspberry preserves (jam).  Knowing the jam would run all over the place during baking, I did a search on how I could thicken this to work for me.  This is what I did:  I took 1/2 cup of the raspberry jam and added to it 1 tablespoon corn starch and then heated it until it thickened.  Cooled it on a plate for about an hour.  IT WORKED!!!!!!!!

** As you can see in the picture I posted with this recipe, I did not stick to the original way of making these.  I made just a few of the 'tripod' cookies (too much monkey work for me); then I put some raspberry filling between TWO solid rounds of the dough; after that, I put some filling on top of a solid round that was topped with a heart-cut-out round; and , finally, I spread filling on top of a rectangle of the dough and then rolled it up as I would a jelly roll and cut them into little slices.  It all worked, all taste the same-- some just look better!

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