Linzer Sablés Recipes

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined. Add butter and pulse several times until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and keep pulsing until dough starts to clump together. The dough should be crumbly with large clumps. If dough is too dry, add a bit of water. Another way to check if the dough is done is to take a piece of dough and press it between your thumbs - the dough should stick well together without feeling dry. Avoid overworking the dough throughout the process.
• Turn the dough to a floured surface and form into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line pans with parchment paper and set aside.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface until it's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick (for sandwich cookies I prefer thin cookies). Cut 60 rounds or hearts of dough using a 2 inch (5 cm) cookie cutter. Using a smaller round (or other shape) cutter, cut a hole into the center of 30 of the cookies.
• Transfer cookies gently using a thin spatula to the prepared baking sheets, placing them 1 inch apart.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are golden just at the edges. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sift powdered sugar on top of the cookies with the holes.
• Put about 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of the whole cookies, then place the cookies with the holes on top, and press gently.
• Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

TRADITIONAL ALGERIAN SABLES (COOKIES) - LIKE LINZER AUGEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170°C
• Cream the margarine & sugar(s) until light & fluffy.
• Beat in the egg & vanilla, then gradually fold in the flour & baking powder.
• Mix slowly until a soft dough forms. The dough is very soft & needs handling with care but it shouldn't be sticky. If your dough is still a little sticky, sift in a little extra flour.
• Roll out to about 4mm thick, be sure to flour the rolling pin well.
• Cut out 'tops & bottoms' for your sables.
• Place on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil (shiny side up) & bake for 8 minutes. The sables should be just set but still white.
• Allow the sables to cool on the sheet for a minute then remove to a cold plate or tray to finish cooling.
• When the sables are fully cooled, heat the jam until bubbling.
• Place all the sables tops onto a tray & dust generously with the icing sugar.
• Allow the jam to cool slightly then spoon approx 1/2 tsp of the jam onto the underside of the sables 'bottoms'.
• Then carefully place a 'top' over the blob of jam.
• Allow to set, then store in one layer in an airtight container for upto 10 days.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix the flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and the allspice in a large bowl until combined. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the almonds and caster sugar. Drizzle in the egg and mix with a cutlery knife until the dough comes together in large clumps. Using your hands, knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a tight, compact disc. If the dough is still very soft, chill for 15 mins.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly dusted work surface to 5mm thickness. Stamp out 20 x 7cm rounds using a crinkle-edged cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Re-roll the off-cuts and cut out as many more biscuits as you can (you need to end up with an even number). Use a small round or other festive cutter to stamp a circle from the centre of half the biscuits. Chill all the biscuits in the freezer for 20 mins or the fridge for 30 mins until firm.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for about 10-12 mins, or until lightly golden and sandy to the touch. Leave to cool for 5 mins on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix the icing sugar with the rest of the cinnamon and dust this over the cut-out biscuits. Spoon the jam over the whole biscuits and smooth with the back of a spoon. Sandwich these with the icing-sugar-dusted biscuits. Will keep in an airtight container for six days. Best eaten within three days.

LINZER COOKIES (DORIE GREENSPAN)

Steps:

• Whisk together the ground nuts, flour, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Using a fork, stir the egg and the water together in a small bowl.
• Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until smooth (about 3 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the egg mixture and beat for 1 minute more. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Don't work the dough much, and if dry crumbs remain on the bottom of the bowl, mix the dough by hand or with a spatula.
• Divide the dough in half. Put the dough between two large sheets of plastic wrap, and press down with your hands until fairly flat. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is around 1/4 inch thick. Make sure that at this time you make sure the dough is not stuck to the plastic wrap. Place on a chopping board (still covered with plastic wrap) and place in the freezer for 45 minute.
• Center a rack in the oven, and preheat to 375°F Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Take out the dough from the freezer. Remove the plastic wrap from 1/2. Cut out the shapes. If you want a peekaboo cutout, use a piping tip to cut a small circle in the center of 1/2 the cookies. Save the scrapes, so that you can combine them with the other half's worth of scraps, and re-freeze to make more cookies.
• Place cut outs on the baking sheet, and bake for 11-13 minute or until they are lightly golden and firm to the touch. Transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with the other half of the dough. When cool, spread the jam on.

AMERICAN KITCHEN CLASSIC LINZER SABLES (COOKIES)

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• Gradually add the eggs, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Reduce the speed to low.
• Sift the flour, cinnamon, cake crumbs, and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Add to the creamed mixture all at once and mix just until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
• Add the hazelnut flour and mix just until combined. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.
• While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut rounds of dough using a fluted circular cookie cutter. Use a smaller cutter to cut a hole in half of the rounds. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. As you are working, reserve the scraps so that they may be rolled again and cut.
• Bake until lightly golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Allow the cookies to cool for a minute on the baking sheets then transfer, using a spatula, to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
• Sift confectioners' sugar over the cooled cookies. Coat the cookies without holes lightly and the ones with holes thoroughly. Pipe or spread a thin layer of jam on the cookies without holes. Top with the remaining cookies and press gently to secure.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container.