Viennese Punch Cookies Recipes

VIENNESE PUNCH COOKIES

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• For the dough: Combine the butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft and light. Add the ground almonds and mix well.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large spatula to incorporate the flour, mixing until the dough is smooth. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it; divide into 3 equal portions.
• Lightly flour the dough, then gently roll it to about 3/8-inch thick. Use a plain round cookie cutter to cut out 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookies and place them, spaced 1 inch apart, on the prepared pans. Reserve the scraps from cutting the cookies in a bowl.
• Roll and cut the remaining 2 pieces of dough, reserving the scraps from the rolling and cutting with the others. There should be 48 cookie rounds.
• Bake the cookies for 7 to 8 minutes, until they are firm and dull-looking, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back 1/2 way through. (If you know that your oven gives strong bottom heat, use a third baking sheet to insulate the one on the lower rack.) Slide the parchment papers off the baking sheets to cool the cookies.
• Arrange the dough scraps in a single layer on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet. While the cookie rounds are cooling, bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm, then cool the scraps on a wire rack.
• For the filling: Break up the cooled scraps and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to grind coarsely. Add the preserves, melted chocolate, rum, and orange and lemon zests; pulse until the filling holds a soft shape.
• To fill the cookies, turn 24 of the cookies over so that the flattest (bottom) sides are facing up. Spread a little less than 1 tablespoon of the filling on each cookie to within 1/8 inch of the edge. Top with the remaining cookies, placing them bottom side down on the filling and gently pressing the two cookies together.
• For the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, rum, water and food coloring in a medium saucepan; stir until smooth. Place over low heat and cook for several minutes, until it is just lukewarm (about 110 degrees measured on an instant-read thermometer). Use a small offset spatula to spread a thin coat of the icing on top of each cookie. Let set completely before storing or serving.

VIENNESE VANILLA COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and add sugar. Add 1/2 cup of flour mixing after each addition. Add remaining ingredients. Shape into a disk and then chill for 30 minutes. You can also put the dough in the freezer at this point.
• Begin to roll the dough the dough so that it is about 1/4-inch thick or a little more. Cut with cookie cutters. Place dough on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet. I prefer using parchment paper. It's just easier.
• Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until the edges are a bit brown. You may need to lower your oven to 325 degrees F.
• You can also freeze or chill the dough in a log shape rather than a disk. If you do this, simply cut small rounds about 1/4 inch thick and place these rounds on the lined cookie sheet. These bake for 15 minutes. (This works well, if you want to transport dough to a friend's house and have kids form the cookies.)
• Once the cookies come out of the oven, either cool them on the cookie sheet or move the parchment paper to a cookie rack. As the cookies cool, but before they're fully cooled, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.
• Arrange on a plate and don't blink because they'll disappear before you open your eyes. Eat.
• That's the classic Brown family cookie. Without it Christmas simply isn't Christmas. Sometimes I bring a batch from my Chicago home and that simply doesn't work. My sister and mother are upset that the house doesn't smell like Christmas...no cookie smell in the air. I'm often required to make many batches...and the cookies are eaten at all times
• and for all meals.
• These were the cookies we left for Santa...He regularly gobbled them up, leaving only a few crumbs on the plate and a note that said, "These are excellent cookies, the best I've had." In retrospect, the writing looked an awful lot like my father's... If they're good enough for Santa, I think they're good enough for anyone.

VIENNESE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Combine flour and ground almonds; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. , Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/4-in. round cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Spread jam on the bottoms of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip half of each sandwich cookie into chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in an airtight container.