#8. Linzer Cookies

Tasty cookies, they just look so pretty and festive. These were made with ground hazelnuts, but almonds can be used too. They are crunchy, and with the jam in the center it adds another tasty dimension.

Ingredients:
1 1/8C all purpose flour
1/2C toasted ground hazelnuts
1/4C sugar
1/4t salt
1 1/4t ground cinnamon
1/8t ground cloves
1 stick unsalted butter
1/8t almond extract
1t vanilla extract
1t lemon zest
1t orange zest

Filling
seedless raspberry jam, or strawberry and apricot jam is nice too.

In a bowl cream the butter with the sugar and the extracts, add the zest, then the hazelnuts.
In a separate bowl put all the dry ingredients. Add these to the butter mixture until large crumbs develop. With your hands combine and form a ball. If it is a little dry then add just a teaspoon of water. If it is too dry then it will crack as the dough is being rolled. Make 2 discs and roll the dough out about a 1/4", using a little flour to prevent the dough from sticking. In the photos below a small 1 1/2" circle cutter was used, but these can be made larger, or into squares. Just have an even smaller cutter for the inside of the cookie tops. The bottom of a pastry tip can be used as a cutter too. Cut an even amount of tops and bottoms. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. bake for about 8-10 mins, or until the bottom of the cookie is a golden color, not too dark though at 350F. Let them cool, then with an offset spatula spread a thin layer of jam on the bottoms, dust powdered sugar in a sifter over the cookie tops, then put the tops on the bottoms. Eat!