Linzer Cookies

     Over Christmas I discovered so many cookies that I wanted to make but with my Christmas cookie boxes that I sold in December, I didn't have a whole lot of time to try anything new. I kept telling myself that I could wait until next year to try making linzer cookies but I happened to have almond flour in my pantry from another recipe and I couldn't help myself. 

    To make these cookies I used a cookie cutter used specifically for linzer cookies. You could use a normal round cookie cutter and a smaller cookie cutter to make the signature "window". I started off this recipe like I make any other cookie, beating together my butter and sugars. However, since I used powdered sugar along with granulated, I beat my butter by itself until it was light and fluffy. Then I added my granulated sugar and beat it, then my powdered sugar. 

    Next, I added in my egg yolks one at a time while continually beating. When that was just combined, I added my vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, almond flour, and all purpose flour. Some recipes use finely chopped pecans or almonds instead of almond flour but I thought the texture would be better with the almond flour. 

    Once everything was mixed, I divided the dough in half and pressed it together to make two disks. the dough will be a little dry and not want to stick together super well but that's ok. I like to knead mine a little bit to try to get to stick together without over mixing, but you can also just mix it a little more until it sticks a little better. When I had two disks I wrapped them in plastic wrap and refrigerated them for at least an hour, but you can keep them in the fridge for up to two days before baking them and they should be just fine. 

    After refrigerating I preheated the oven and took out one of my disks. I made sure to left the other in the fridge until I was ready to roll it out. I rolled my dough thin and used my linzer cookie cutter to cut out an even amount of cookie "tops" and "bottoms". I baked my cookies for nine to ten minutes and pulled them out when they just started to turn brown around the edges.

    I waited for my cookies to be totally cool before I spread a small amount of raspberry preserves on each cookie "bottom" and pressed the tops with the window cutout on top. You can really use any kind of jam or preserve in your cookies but they are traditionally filled with raspberry or apricot preserves. When all of my cookies were finished I sprinkled powdered sugar on top of all of them. These cookies are the perfect blend of sweet, tart, and nutty, without being too sweet. None of the flavors are too strong or overpowering and they blend super well. 

    How did this recipe work for you? Leave a comment!