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“These were such a success that my husband bought me a set of tiny cookie cutters with a dozen different shapes so I can make these for other occasions, not just Christmas. Thanks for such a splendid recipe. You made me look really good!” ~Renee
If you ask me what my favorite commercially made cookie is, I’d say Harry and David’s Fruit Galettes. I could eat a dozen at a time without blinking, so it’s a good thing they only come into our house once a year, at most, if someone happens to send them for the holidays. I wouldn’t dream of ordering them for myself, for one thing it would be like throwing my hard earned dollars down the gullet, they’d disappear before I could even really appreciate them.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t love a great copy cat recipe so I could whip them up from scratch at a fraction of the cost.
what are fruit galette cookies?
These are a simple shortbread sandwich cookie filled with jam, but if you’ve ever had one of Harry and David’s fruit galettes you know that the shortbread is super soft, with a hint of almond flavor, and the jam filling is extra tangy and delicious. When it comes to desserts I’m usually a chocoholic all the way, but these cookies get me every time.
Making them at home is not only a cost saver, but homemade cookies always have the edge over commercial brands. Even the best bakeries can’t compete with the quality ingredients we use in our homemade holiday cookies ~ the best butter and jam the supermarket offers….and what about all that love we bake into our holiday treats? I don’t think the commercial bakeries include that in their list of ingredients.
Unless you have some fabulous homemade jam stacked in the store cupboard you’ll have to decide on what to buy. I think Harry and David use peach, raspberry, and blackberry. I got so excited in the jam aisle I came home with three too ~
- Bon Maman Raspberry because I know and love it (I’ve featured it in my Classic Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe.) Â It has a nice tart flavor that’s perfect in these cookies.
- Stonewall Kitchen Black Raspberry, because SK is probably the highest quality jam in the store, and who else makes black raspberry?
- And then I noticed Bon Maman has a new line out called their ‘intense’ line. That has my name written all over it, so I picked up the Intense Apricot.
You can use just about anything to fill these sandwich cookies, I’d love to try Meyer lemon or blood orange curd, which you can find in my Easy Microwave Citrus Curd post. Or my Microwave Cranberry Curd. As long as it’s strongly flavored, tangy, and fruity, it will work. And btw if you do have some exotic homemade preserves on hand, I can imagine all kinds of interesting ideas like rose hip jelly, Clementine Jam, or homemade marmalade.
TIP: Try to resist the urge to put too much jam in the center of these cookies, it’s tempting to load it on, but it will ooze out if you’re not careful. I suggest looking for jams that are on the thick side to prevent this. If you have a jam you want to use that’s loose, put it in a small saucepan and boil it down briefly until it thickens.
Download these customized tags to include with all your gifts …holiday gifting done simple!
You can print them on a home computer, or, even better, have them printed on glossy card stock by an office store like Kinkos, FedEx, or Staples. You can do everything easily online and pick them up at your local store, they’ll even cut them for you. If you’re giving these cookies to everyone on your list, that’s a convenient way to go.
You cannot buy anything like these tender fruit galettes at retail, (except at Harry and David’s) and so I think this makes the perfect homemade cookie gift. If you’re not lucky enough to receive the originals, this copy cat recipe does very nicely.
Make these Copy Cat Harry and David Fruit Galettes your own
- Ditch the fruit and fill them with chocolate ganache or Nutella.
- Make them ahead and freeze the shortbread cookies, then fill with jam after they defrost. See my Complete Guide to Freezing Cookies for more details.
Copy Cat Harry and David Fruit Galettes
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract, use vanilla if you like
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
filling
- 1 cup jam, use a relatively thick jam for this cookie
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract. Then beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated.
- Whisk the baking powder and flour, and slowly add to the bowl while keeping the mixer on low until the dough comes together. Scrape the bowl again, and finish mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands to bring the dough completely together. Form into a flat disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, try to get it just under 1/4 inch. Cut the dough into rounds using a small cookie or biscuit cutter. My cutter measures just under 2 inches across. Carefully transfer the dough to the baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
- Bake the cookies for about 8-9 minutes. Note: they will not brown, and will still be completely pale when done. Don’t over-bake because you want your cookies to be soft. I like to do a test cookie or two to check my settings and timing.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes, then cool completely on a rack. Put a small amount of jam in the middle of one cookie and top it with another. Press down gently.
Nutrition
I have eaten quite a few of the original in my day. This recipe is not even close. I feel like I’ve wasted my time and ingredients.
Everybody has their own take on a favorite cookie!
I’m excited to find this recipe and having read the reviews I will try almond paste…Walgreens is printing your labels thank you:)Could you please share what size bakers box fits a dozen comfortably?
You might try a 12 x 5.5 x 2.5 box, or an 8×8 square. Lots of different types and sizes of boxes can work, though. You can always fill in excess space with crumpled tissue.
Can I substitute almond flour?
I made these for Christmas for my neighbors. I used 2.5″ round cookie cutters because I wanted to do a smaller shaped cut out in middle of the top cookie- just like Harry & David. When they were done, I thought, “Oh no! these are really big, too late now!” My neighbors all said how delicious they were. Then one neighbor received a gift of the same type cookies from Harry & David and sent me a picture. Mine were the exact same size -that was a relief. She also said, “No comparison!! You put them to shame!” She didn’t need to say anything, since I didn’t know she had received the gift. I had 5 cans of peaches in my cupboard so I made Peach Jam with them and used it for half the cookies. I used Bonne Maman Raspberry for the other half. These were such a success that my husband bought me a set of tiny cookie cutters with a dozen different shapes so I can make these for other occasions, not just Christmas. Thanks for such a splendid recipe. You made me look really good!
Do you think these would be good with homemade lemon curd. Perhaps grate a tiny bit of zest in the cookie?
Yes!
Everything is better with lemon curd!
With respect, these were bland. Even the filling did not help. These are soft and bland. Plus, can they be called shortbread if the dough contains eggs?
I worked at Harry and David’s in the bakery for years, I look forward to trying your recipe. I am sure that I am not allowed to share the recipe, I don’t have it anyway, but they have an ingredient list…so…You are spot on about the quality of ingredients as they use butter and shortening, and a lot of it! I know that they are not using almond flavor, but almond paste and regular sugar. The high quantity of grease is how they are achieving a tender cookie. And a homemade cookie could have much more fruit filling, a cookie that is shipped with too much filling is a mess when it arrives.
Oh fun, I can’t wait for you to try these Shannon, I do love those H&D cookies 🙂
Sue,
I made your recipe and then compared it to the real thing side-by-side. The original does seem to have a different mouth feel, a bit more moist. I’m pretty sure coming from the almond paste. How about if you play around with your recipe and add almond paste to it? I also was quite surprised at how thin and small the original is compared to what I made using your recipe, so roll it out thinner and use a smaller cookie form.
I adore almond paste so I’ll see what I can do next time!
I am hoping you may have played around with the recipe using almond paste???? I am not good at all with trial and error. Strict recipe follower. LOVE the H&D version