Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies have been on my "to bake" list for ages.  Literally months ago I bought half of the ingredients to make them but never did.  This past December though a co-worker started talking about them and I eagerly accepted a photocopied recipe out of her Parade magazine.  I mean they claimed to win best "rolled out cookie" for 2012.  Worth a try, no?

So when scheduling a baking date with my dear Rachelle (cuz you know, that's what we do) I knew that we had to make these.  She obliged and I think I now have to rename this blog "My Feelings Taste Like Cookies" because I seem to have forgotten how to make anything else this holiday season!

We used the food processor for this recipe, but not the stand mixer.  

Linzer Tart Cookies

Taken from Parade Magazine, December 2012.  
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until sides are golden at 350* 

3/4 c. unsalted almonds
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
1/2 c. butter, at room temp
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 egg, at room temp
Fruit preserves - any flavor
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Directions:
1. In a food processor, chop nuts and 1/4 c of the flour until fine.
2. In a bowl, combine nut/flour mixture, remaining 1 1/4 c. flour, butter, sugar, zest and egg.  Stir by hand until it turns doughy.
3.  Divide dough into two equal pieces and cover in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4.  Roll out dough on a floured surface.  Use Linzer cookie cutters to cut out bottom and tops of your sandwich cookies.  You will need an even amount.
5. Bake on parchment paper until sides are golden brown and let cool.
6. Spread fruit preserves on the bottom cookies.  On the tops (the ones with the cut outs), dust with  confectioners sugar.  Sandwich top cookie to bottom cookie.

I sucked at using the cookie cutter by they way.  Rachelle did most of the stamping because I was making messes.  Aren't the baby cut outs cute though?  We used stars and flowers. But like the recipe mentions, they have winter linzer cookie cutters too with things like mittens on them!

For the fruit preserves I  bought apricot-pineapple and boysenberry.  You can use any preserve, but I chose a few little lesson common ones to make things interesting.  I really liked the boysenberry one, personally.

My tip to you is that you can't use enough preserves.  Add more before you sandwich them together.

We rolled out the cookies twice, the last time we couldn't reuse the middle cutouts so Rach decided to bake the few we had -- tiny equals cute people.  

And then we sandwiched them together too -  into teeny tiny bite sized cookies. Literally bite-sized!

Baking dates with Rach are the best.  If we fail, we fail together!  But two sharp minds with pretty solid baking instincts don't fail.  :)

We actually made these back in December but I had't had time to post about them. They came out too pretty not to though!  You can see the specks of lemon zest, the pieces of almonds and of course the preserves peaking out.  And truth be told, I have a thing for scalloped edges.

The stars were the boysenberry.

The flowers were the apricot-pineapple.

Now that the holidays are over I need to stop baking cookies and maybe learn to bake some vegetables.  So next week look for carrots.  Ha, totally kidding.  (Unless it's carrot cake.)

xoxo,
Anna