Apricot preserve and sage cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, and cornmeal. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Stir in fresh herb. Add milk and stir with a fork to combine. Form mixture into a ball and knead until smooth. Divide dough in half.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2-1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out dough.

3. In a small bowl combine egg white and water. Brush half of the cutouts with the egg white mixture and, if desired, top with one or two small sage leaves. Brush leaves with egg white mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake about 7 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. Snip any large pieces of fruit in apricot preserves. Spread the bottoms of cookies without sage leaves with preserves. Top with sage-topped cookies, flat sides down. Makes 16 sandwich cookies.

To Store: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze unfilled cookies up to 3 months. Thaw cookies; fill.