Linzer Tart Cookies
I know Linzer tarts are traditionally Christmas cookies, but this year I enjoyed one of these for Valentine’s Day. It reminded me how much I love the taste of almond and tart raspberries. The lightly-spiced cookies themselves are not too sweet, and they’re complemented by the sweet fruit preserve. When I see them, I’m brought back to my childhood - in one of my favorite fairytale picture books, there is a scene with a queen throwing a lavish garden party. What always caught my eye was the giant spread of heart-shaped Linzer cookies.
Ingredients: (yields one dozen cookies)
1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 ¾ cups ground almonds
⅛ tsp. ground cinnamon
5 tbsp. raspberry or strawberry jam
⅓ cup confectioners' sugar, for decoration
Instructions:
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in 1/2 cup flour, ground almonds, and cinnamon. Add in the remaining flour (1/2 cup at a time) until the mixture becomes dough-like.
Shape the dough into a ball and divide in half. Wrap both halves in in wax paper or plastic wrap. Rest in refrigerator for an hour.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into 1/8 inch thick sheet. With a cookie cutter, cut as many shapes from the sheet as you can.
Arrange the cut out shapes on a cookie sheet, and space them out 1 inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator while working with the other half of the dough, if you can.
Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough. But when arranging shapes onto the baking sheet, cut out the center of each shape, leaving a hole.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until light brown, and cool for 20 minutes before assembling.
Once cool, spread a thin layer of jam on each of the cookie shapes. Press one of the full shapes and one of the cut-out shapes together. Spoon a small dollop of jam in the hole and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.
