Linzer Cookies
makes about thirty 2″ cookies

Yes, this dough is a little hard to deal with when at room temperature, so work with one piece or one sheet at a time, work quickly, and keep the rest refrigerated. If it gets unmanageable, get it back into the fridge and pull out another sheet or piece of dough.

1 cup (112 g) hazelnuts
1/3 cup (56 g) almonds
3 sticks (336 g) butter, room temp
1 1/4 cup (235 g) sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (7 g) cinnamon
2 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder

powdered sugar for garnish

1. Grind the almonds and hazelnuts as finely as possible. Don’t grind them so long that they become a paste.

2. On medium speed, using the handy dandy mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. (Your butter should be soft enough that you can accomplish this by hand if you want, using an old-fashioned bowl and wooden spoon.) You are not trying to beat air into this. No need to get this fluffy. You are just making it smooth and creamy.

3. Pour in the ground nuts, and stir in on low speed.

4. Add the eggs one at a time and incorporate each into the batter before adding the next.

5. In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder, and add it to the butter mixture. Incorporate the dry stuff in on slow speed. You will probably have to scrape down the bowl at the end and stir in by hand the stubborn buttery layer on the bottom that the paddle cant seem to reach.

6. The finished dough is now VERY soft, and will need to be refrigerated before proceeding. Scrape the dough out onto some plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight.

7. Now we roll out the dough. Cut off about a third of the dough. Lightly flour your surface and the top of the dough. You may want to let the dough sit at room temperature first for 5 or 10 minutes just so it isn’t so cold that it cracks at the edges while rolling.

Tip: If you have a very sticky dough that keeps sticking to your table, roll it directly on your parchment paper. You’ll still want to flour the paper first, as you would a table.

Flour the top as needed to keep the rolling pin from sticking and tearing the dough. Work as quickly as you can, as the dough is easiest to work with while still cold. It should be 1/8″ in thickness. If some of the dough rolls past the edge of the paper, trim the excess away. As you roll you can stack up the sheets together on one sheet tray. Refrigerate again for half an hour to firm up the dough enough for cutting out.

8. We’re almost baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Because they are conveniently stacked up, you can pull each sheet out of the fridge one at a time. Quickly, cut out the rounds and transfer them to another parchment-lined sheet (you can use a plain or a fluted cutter). An offset spatula makes it easier to transfer the rounds. They don’t spread, so fit them close together. (Of course, you can refrigerate and reroll the scraps.)

9. Once all your rounds are cut, you will need to cut smaller circles out of the centers of HALF the available quantity. These will be the tops. Again, if the dough is too soft to pull out the centers easily, refrigerate first for easier handling.

10. Bake your trays. They take 15 to 20 minutes. All you are looking for is a happy, golden brown color. Let them cool to room temperature.

11. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip and load up with your favorite preserve. I like strawberry or raspberry here.

12. Pipe the jam over the bottoms (if you don’t have a pastry bag, you can spoon it on.) Keep the jam away from the edges. When you make the sandwiches, the tops will force the jam to the edges when you press.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the hole-y ones.

Now carefully sandwich.

Eat as many as you can before anyone gets home.