Looking for a sweet appetizer or simple dessert for your next get-together? Try making these delicious cream cheese topped Maria cookies. They are incredibly easy to make with very little preparation time. You can make the mixture a day ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. About an hour before you’re ready to use it, take it out to come to room temperature for easy piping. These are perfect to pair with a cheese and cracker, vegetable or fruit platter. If you end up with any leftovers (you probably won’t!), you can eat them for breakfast the next day with a cup of chamomile tea. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup red raspberry jam, seedless
• 1 (3.5 oz) package of Maria cookies (Goya)
• zest from 1 lime, optional

Method of Preparation

Place softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and water into a bowl and beat until creamy and well-combined, about 3-4 minutes. Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with either a rounded or star tip. (I used Ateco star tip #4.) Take each cookie and place onto a flat surface. Pipe a small dollop of the cream cheese mixture onto each cookie followed by an even smaller dollop (approx. 1 tsp.) of the seedless red raspberry jam. Optional: Zest 1 lime over the cookies before serving.