Linzer Cookies
- 1½ cups (6 ounces) walnuts
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
- 2 large eggs
- About ¾ cup raspberry preserves (not jelly or jam)
- Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
Instructions:
The Austrian city of Linz is famous for its special lattice-topped tart created from a cinnamon-scented nut dough filled with raspberry jam.
- Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the walnuts with ¼ cup of the granulated sugar until finely ground, about 20 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the flour, the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves and mix well. Add the butter. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like cornmeal. In a small bowl, beat one of the eggs and stir into the flour mixture to make a dough. Gather up the dough into a ball.
- Work with half of the dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter (preferably with a fluted edge), cut out cookies. Transfer to cookie sheets lined with nonstick baking pads, placing the cookies about 1 inch apart. Gather up the scraps and knead together briefly. Roll and cut out more cookies until the first half of the dough is used up. Place 1 teaspoon of the raspberry preserves in the center of each cookie round.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the reserved dough 1/8 inch thick and cut out 2-inch round cookies. Using a ¾-inch round cookie cutter, cut holes in the center of each round. Place over the preserve-topped cookies with the holes centered over the preserves to make sandwiches, lightly pressing the edges of the two layers together. Gathering up the scraps, roll and cut out more cookies until the dough is used up. In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the egg.
- Bake, switching the position of the baking sheets from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the cookies are golden and the preserves are bubbling in the center, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.