American Kitchen Classic Linzer Sables Cookies Recipes

LINZER SABLéS

Steps:

• Whisk together the ground nuts, flour, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars and salt together at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Meanwhile, using a fork, stir the egg and water together in a small bowl and add it to the butter/sugar mixture. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients, then turn it on low and mix only until they disappear into the dough.
• Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, put the dough between two large sheets of wax paper. Using your hands, flatten the dough into a disk, then grab a rolling pin and roll out the dough, turning it over frequently so that the paper doesn't cut into it, until it is about 1⁄4 inch thick. Leave the dough in the paper and repeat with the second piece of dough. Transfer the wrapped dough to a baking sheet (to keep it flat) and refrigerate or freeze it until it is very firm, about 2 hours in the refrigerator or about 45 minutes in the freezer. The rolled-out dough can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Just thaw the dough enough to cut out the cookies and proceed from there.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Working with one piece of dough at a time and using a cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Place the circles of dough on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1½-inches apart. Gather the scraps so you can re-roll with the next batch. Bake, 11-13 minutes.
• Cookies are done when there's color around the edges and on the bottom. Let cool 5 minutes, then sandwich with a teaspoon of raspberry jam (thinned with a splash of water and heated in the microwave). Finish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar just before serving.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.
• For the icing, sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid. Spread over cookies with back of a spoon. Add other decorations, if desired. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes.

RASPBERRY LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and lemon zest. In another bowl, mix flour, ground almonds and cinnamon; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Press 2 cups dough onto bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Spread with preserves to within 1/2 in. of edges. Crumble remaining dough over preserves., Bake until lightly browned, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. If desired, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Cut into bars.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse together flour and almonds in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. Add cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and pulse to blend. (Alternatively, whisk together flour, ground almonds or almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.)
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.
• Add in dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed, just until incorporated.
• Divide dough in 2 equal pieces, and wrap each piece in cling film, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours, up to 5 days ahead.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper so it's about 1/8 inch thick. (Because of the almonds, the dough may crack in places while you're rolling it out. This is O.K., just patch it up with scraps.)
• Using a round cookie cutter 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Take half of these circles and cut out a 1-inch circle from the interior of the larger circles, creating a doughnut shape that will become the top of the cookie. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any scraps of dough, combine them and roll them out, chilling as necessary. Transfer dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart and bake until the edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• To assemble the linzer cookies, spread about a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the flat sides of the larger circles. Dust the tops of the cutout circles with powdered sugar and place on top of raspberry jam.