Wine Linzer Cookies

200 g butter

100 g sugar

a pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

150 g almond meal

180 g flour

spices (a little cinnamon, ginger, cloves etc.)

powdered sugar for sprinkling

Mulled wine jelly

1 orange

100 ml red wine

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1-2 star anises (I omitted them)

180 g canning sugar (3:1)*

For the mulled wine jelly, squeeze the orange juice and mix it with the wine and the canning sugar, add the cinnamon stick, cloves and star anis (I didn't have any).

Bring to a boil and cook for about 4 minutes. Strain the jelly to remove the spices and set aside to cool.

*I didn't have any canning sugar, so I put 150 g sugar and added 1 tablespoon of my grape and thyme jam, cooked it a bit longer until it started thickening. I actually cooked it a bit too long, and when it cooled it got so thick and hard, that I had to warm it up adding a bit more orange juice and it returned being the right consistency.

For the cookies, cream the softened butter with the sugar.

Mix in the egg yolk.

Sift the flour, mix it with the almond meal and the spices (if adding them) and stir into the butter mixture to form a soft dough.

Divide the dough in two, and shape each into a disc. Wrap them in a piece of plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about one hour or until firm.

Turn the oven on to 180°C.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out one disc at a time between two sheets of parchment paper to about 4 mm thick.

Using a round, 5-cm fluted cookie cutter, cut the cookies and using a thin metal spatula transfer them to a baking sheet (I didn't have the original Linzer cookie cutter, so I used what I had, stars and flowers).

Using a small cookie cutter, cut out the center of half of the cookies - those are going to be the top of the sandwiched cookies.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Be careful not to over bake them - when you notice the edges start browning, take them out. Let them cool on a cooling rack.

Repeat with the remaining dough. Collect the dough leftovers and chill them before rolling them out again. Since this is the dough rich in butter it gets soft very quickly once out of the fridge, especially with the oven on.

Once all the cookies are done, put all the cookies with the cut out center on a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle them generously with powdered sugar (use a fine mesh sieve).

Spread a little mulled wine jelly on the bottom side of the whole cookies and then sandwich them with the sugar dusted tops.

Let them rest until the jelly has set well.

Warm up slightly the remaining jelly, just enough to make it runny, and fill the top holes with a bit more jelly.

Store the cookies in an airtight container, separating layers with a piece of parchment paper so they don't stick to each other.

I got about 20 sandwiched cookies, although some disappeared before they met that gorgeously tasting jelly.

http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/a-special-edition-of-linzer-cookies-fid-1220971

Linzer Sables

History:

The Linzer Torte recipe, which is the European mother of the Linzer sables, is the oldest known written recipe in history. A copy of this delightful cake recipe was found in the Veronese Admont Abbey’s journals, dated 1653. The confection, however, was made famous in the little town of Linz Austria in the early 1800’s. An industrious Linz baker, Johann Vogel, started mass producing this gem of a treat and made it famous around the world. Hence, its name, Linzer torte. (Torte means cake in German) 

Now Linzer torte is basically a giant cookie or tart made with nut flour and filled with jam and baked till bubbling. (Nuts were way more plentiful than wheat in Europe a long time ago.) The Austrians fill it with red current jam but most cooks around the world prefer raspberry jam. (They are a great way to show off a lovely jam you made.) Linzer tortes are the crown jewels, shinning in the windows of all the Austrian and German bakeries during the Christmas season. 

Linzer torte became a big hit in the United States, when Franz Holzlhuber, an Austrian immigrant, started a bakery in Milwaukee Wisconsin with his grandma’s recipe in 1850. Linzer sables or cookies were born here in North America. Leave it up to the Americans to make this ancient cake into something portable that one can eat on the go.

Tips:

When making Linzer sables, I recommend you use hazelnuts because they impart such a wonderful flavor to the cookie and they are also traditional. Many bakers use almonds instead, which is fine. Nut meal of different types can be used in place of the ground nuts. You can get it through “Bob’s Red Mill” which is a good option if you do not have a food processor. But if you can, I recommend you make your own ground nuts for the cookies. 

Roast your nuts till they just start to scent the kitchen and are turning golden. If you are using hazelnuts, let them cool a bit, then rub them together in a clean dish towel to remove the skins. (That chore is best done outside, believe me!) Then process the nuts in a food processor till they are ground but not superfine. This lends an exotic texture and taste to the cookie.

If you really want to get decadent, spread a layer of nutella under the jam. FYI, Amazon has Linzer cookie cutters sets. Makes about 12-16 sandwich cookies, depending on their size. 

1 cup of butter softened

 1 cup of granulated sugar

 1 large orange, zested

 1 large lemon, zested

 1 egg

 1 teaspoon of vanilla

 1 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour

 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

 3/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom

 1/4 teaspoon of salt

 1 cup of ground roasted nuts such as hazelnuts or almonds

 1 cup of raspberry seedless jam or other yummy jam you have

 Powdered sugar 

Put on some Christmas music and get out your favorite mixing bowl. Cream together with a blender, the butter and sugar till light and creamy. Beat in the zest, egg and vanilla. In another bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the nuts, till well fluffed. On a medium setting on your mixer, carefully blend the dry ingredients into the wet till mixed. Slowly add the ground nuts till just blended. Pat the dough with wet fingers into a flat shape, (it’s sticky!) then cover the dough and set in the fridge for 30 minutes to overnight to chill. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and get your dough out to party! Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about a 1/8 of an inch thick. This is sticky dough so make sure and flip the dough a few times while you are rolling it out so it doesn’t stick to the counter. Cut out two cookies of each shape that will make up the sandwich Linzer cookie. Place them on a two lightly greased cookie sheets. Have all the top cookies on one cookie sheet and all the bottoms on another as the tops will cook faster than the bottoms. Then take a smaller cookie cutter and cut the center out of the top cookies for the “window” that will show the jam. Bake for 10 -12 minutes until golden brown. (Bake a little longer if you want a cookie that stays crisp.)

http://danazia.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/linzer-sables/

Fig Linzer Cookie Sandwiches

Linzer “tort” is one of the oldest recipes existing today (the oldest one was found in 1653 in the archive of Admont Abbey). Baking Linzer tort, or Linzer cookies for Christmas is an Austrian, Hungarian and German tradition. I guess the reason this recipe survived for this many centuries is because its taste is memorable, its visual appeal is inviting, and it is fairly easy to prepare. I assume what makes Nancy’s recipe so special because it contains hard-boiled eggs that make the cookies’ texture melt-in-your-mouth deliciously.

Linzer Cookies

INGREDIENTS

 •1/4 cup (1 1/2-ounces; 50g) whole unblanched hazelnuts (Please note: you can substitute almonds or pecans if you do not have hazelnuts; walnuts changes the taste completely)

 •1/4 cup (1 1/2-ounces, 50g)  granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup (1 1/2-ounces, 50g) plus 2 tablespoons

 •1 tablespoon (15g) ground cinnamon

 •2 cups plus 4 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour (I used half and half) all-purpose

 •4 extra-large eggs, hard-boiled (NOTE: Extra-Large Eggs)

 •8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes

 •1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely chopped (from about 1/2 lemon)

 •1 teaspoon pure almond and vanilla extract

Powdered sugar, for dusting

FIG JAM, or any other jam for filling. I used fig jam, because I created it home-made (see instructions below)

Special equipment: 2 1/2-inch round, heart, square, diamond, star-shaped cutter or punch cutters

 or 1-inch heart cutter, for cutting out the center of the cookies

PREPARATION

 1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

 2. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes.  (NOTE: when you feel the aroma, the nuts are done)

 3. Shake the pan halfway through baking to make sure that the nuts toast evenly. Allow the nuts to cool.

 4 .Gather the hazelnuts into a kitchen towel and rub them together to remove the skins.

 5. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the hazelnuts with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon, and process until it’s the consistency of a fine meal.

 6. Add the flours and pulse a few times to combine.

 7. Separate the whites of the hard-boiled eggs (you can use the whites use for salads?)

 8. Push the egg yolks through a fine-mesh sieve, scraping the yolks off the bottom of the sieve and into the flour mixture. Pulse on and off a few times to combine.

 9. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and lemon zest on low 2 to 3 minutes, until softened.

 10. Add the remaining sugar and mix on medium, 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

 11. Add the almond and vanilla extract and mix to combine.

 12. Turn the mixer off, add the nut mixture, and mix on low until just incorporated (Do not over mix at this time)

 13. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten it into a rectangle, about 1-inch thick.

 14. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours or overnight.

 15. Divide the dough in 1/2 and return one 1/2 to the refrigerator.

 16. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness, flouring the surface of the dough as necessary. Using the shaped cutter, cutting as closely together as possible, cut out the cookies.

*** 


1. Place them 1-inch apart on 1 to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets to chill until firm, 30 to 45   minutes.

2. Set the scraps aside.

3. Roll and cut out the remaining dough in the same way.

4. Gather all the scraps together, chill, then roll, and cut to make the tops.

5. Using the small cutter cut out the centers of 1/2 of the cookies and chill until firm, 30 to 45 minutes.

6. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and lightly browned, rotating the baking sheets halfway through to make sure even baking. (NOTE: If you use convection oven, you do not need to rotate the baking sheet)

8. The cookies with the holes may bake more quickly than the others.

9. Allow cooling and then dust the perforated cookies with powdered sugar.

10. Flip over the cookies without holes, placing the darker side of the cookie underneath.

11. Spoon about 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the fig jam into the center. (NOTE: I used fig jam, but you can use your favorite jam)

12. Place the perforated cookies, powdered sugar side up, on top of the jam, matching up the edges and pressing gently to spread the jam.

Yield: 4 dozen 2-inch cookies, depending on the size of your cutters 

FIG JAM

 INGREDIENTS

 •2 pounds green or purple figs, stemmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

 •1 1/2 cups sugar (could use 1 cup sugar if  you do not want the jam to be too sweet)

 •freshly squeezed lemon juice from two lemons

 •Zest of 1 lemon

 •½ teaspoons sea salt

Method of Preparation

 1. In a large saucepan, toss the figs with the sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the figs are juicy.

 Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil on medium fire, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.

 2. Simmer the fig jam over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft and the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops, about 20 -25 minutes.

 Spoon the jam into three 1/2-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top.

 3. Close the jars and let cool to room temperature.

 4. Store the jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. 

Notes Variation: Substitute 1/2 cup of white port for the water and add one 4-inch sprig of rosemary with the lemon juice; discard the rosemary before jarring.

http://www.chocolatesandfigs.com/win-two-great-cookbooks-share-your-holiday-cookie-recipe/

Tea Cake Sandwich Cookies



Makes about 32.

Essentially, these are old-fashioned sugar cookies all dressed up for the holidays. If you want to use icing for decoration, follow the directions for the icing in the New England Molasses Gingerbread Cookies recipe. (Recipe follows.)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (21/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• Assorted decorations (such as powdered sugar, icing, colored sugar crystals, and edible glitter)
• 2/3 cup preserves (such as apricot, seedless raspberry, or seedless blackberry)

Preparation:

Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl to blend well. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in milk, lemon peel, and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and beat until blended. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly before rolling out.)

Roll out each dough disk between sheets of waxed paper to 14x11-inch rectangle, occasionally lifting waxed paper to smooth out wrinkles. Refrigerate dough on baking sheets, still between sheets of waxed paper, until cold and firm, about 30 minutes. Place 1 dough piece on work surface. Peel off top sheet of waxed paper. Press same waxed paper gently back onto dough. Turn dough over (still between waxed paper sheets). Peel off top sheet of waxed paper and discard. Using 2 1/4-inch scalloped round cutter and with dough still on waxed paper bottom, cut out cookies. Using 1- to 1 1/4-inch scalloped round cutter, cut out center from half of cookies. Gather dough centers and excess dough around cutouts; shape excess dough into disk and chill. Slide waxed paper with cutouts onto baking sheet and chill. Repeat with remaining dough disk, cutting out rounds, cutting centers from half of rounds to make top rings, and gathering and chilling excess dough. Roll out excess dough between sheets of waxed paper, making more cookie bottoms and top rings. Repeat rolling and cutting until all of dough is used.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Using metal spatula to lift cutouts from waxed paper, transfer cookie bottoms to 1 prepared sheet and top rings to second sheet, spacing slightly apart (cookies spread very little). Sprinkle some top rings with colored sugar crystals (or leave plain to decorate later). Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until pale golden, about 8 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.

Arrange cookie bottoms on work surface. Spread each with 1 teaspoon preserves. Sift powdered sugar over plain cookie rings or decorate with icing and sugar crystals or edible glitter as desired. Press 1 top ring onto each prepared cookie bottom. (Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper in refrigerator.)

Icing:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• Water
• Food coloring (optional)
• Decorations (such as colored sugar crystals)

For icing:
Sift powdered sugar into medium bowl. Mix in lemon juice and corn syrup. Mix in enough water by teaspoonfuls to form smooth icing soft enough to pipe but firm enough to hold shape. Divide into 3 or 4 portions and tint with food coloring, if desired.

Spoon icing into pastry bag (or bags if using more than 1 color) fitted with small (1/16- to 1/8-inch) plain tip. Arrange cookies on work surface. Pipe icing onto cookies in desired patterns. Apply decorations as desired. Let cookies stand until icing is dry. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store cookies airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)

Recipe Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tea-Cake-Sandwich-Cookies-107527

Raspberry Limoncello Linzers

Servings: Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups seedless raspberry jam
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 to 3/4 cup Limoncello liqueur

Cooking Directions:

In large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese and brown sugar using electric mixer. Add egg yolk and extracts; mix well. Gradually add flour and cornstarch; mix just until blended. Divide dough in two pieces, flatten into discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. On lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough to 1/8-inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake 9 to 11 minutes, until edges begin to brown and cookies are firm. Cool cookies on sheet 3 to 4 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, bring raspberry jam to simmer over medium-high heat, insert candy thermometer. Simmer, stirring constantly, until jam reaches 225°F; cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat, cool slightly. Spread 1 heaping teaspoon jam in center of each cookie.

In medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar and egg white powder. Add lemon juice and zest; stir in Limoncello beginning with 1/2 cup, add more, if necessary, to reach desired consistency. Pipe or drizzle cookies with frosting; allow frosting to set before serving or storing. Store cookies in airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper, for up to 1 week.

TIP: A Pretty Platter - Rather than hiding daintily decorated cookies in a tin, arrange them on a pretty keepsake platter. Vintage shops and flea markets are the perfect place to find gorgeous gift-worthy plates at a reasonable price.

Recipe Source: http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/recipes/article.aspx?rid=2824

Linzer Cookies with Spiced Jam

The Linzer cookies are the quintessential Christmas cookie; elegant, nutty, and spiced, these crisp, tender sweet cookies are filled with spiced raspberry jam and looks as festive as it can get.

The Linzer cookies are derived from the famous Linzer Torte, which seemed to have originated in the town of Linz of Austria. The torte has given way to cute cookies and different kind of jam or preserves are used in place of the traditional black currant preserve. Personally I feel the red raspberry preserve gives the cookies a more appropriate look during the holiday season.

A little food history about Linzer Cookie…

“Linz is the reputed home of the renowned Linzertorte. A Linzertorte is a tart made of a rich buttery dough accentuated by almonds, lemon zest, and cinnamon. The tart is traditionally filled with black currant preserves and topped with a lattice crust. … Linzertortes are a traditional European Christmas pastry, a custom that is now enjoyed in the US as well. …

Linzer cookies employ the same recipe as the Linzertorte but instead the dough is cut into cookies and two of them form a sandwich around the preserves. Moreover, the top cookie has a small cutout in its center (known as Linzer eyes), thus exposing the underlying jam and adding to the visual appeal.” (Source)

 Cookies bring warmth and happiness. There is nothing as delightful as watching a child’s face light up at the sight of a cookie. During the holiday season, they are extra special; a symbol of love, giving and sharing.

I am glad that I chose to bake these cookies, for they were very very pretty! To look at them was a joy, to bite into them was sheer bliss. Thin, delicate, tender and crisp – beautifully dusted with snow and with the luscious spiced jam inside – these were some sophisticated desirable cookies.

Notes before you start baking:

1. If you are using hazelnuts with skins, it would be a good idea to toast and skin them ahead of time. It takes a lot of time to skin the nuts.
2. Chill, chill, chill the dough. It gets very very difficult to work with soft room temperature dough. Chill the dough while one set of cookies are baking, even if it is for 30 minutes.
3. Watch the cookies while they are baking. They cook really fast. I use a small convection oven and mine were done at 10 minutes.
4. If you are wondering why the white on my cookies have a “smeared” look, it is due to my lack of patience. I cheated and instead of evenly dusting them, I placed the cookies in a big bowl full of confectioners sugar.

This recipe is a combination of Elise’s (Simply Recipes) Valentine Linzer Cookies, Epicurious, and Food and Wine (loved the Spiced Jam idea).

Ingredients:

1. scant 1 cup hazelnuts or blanched almonds
2. 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar ( I have used 1/4 cup orange sugar + 1/4 cup dark brown sugar)
3. 2 1/2 cups cake flour (or all purpose flour)
4. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5. a pinch of salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7. 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
8. 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
9. 1.5 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
10. 1 +3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
11. 1 large free range egg
12. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
13. confectioners sugar to dust

For Filling:

1. 1 cup seedless raspberry jam or preserve
2. 1/2 teaspoon ground all spice + 1/2 spoon ground coriander (or clove/ginger powder/nutmeg/all spice/anise or any kind of spice you want)

Special equipment:

Linzer Cookie Cutter (optional) or cookie cutters which are big and small (smaller ones are required to cut out the centers)


Preparation:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan until fragrant and skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes. Or toast them on the stove top in a dry skillet at low flame for 5-7 minutes, while tossing them constantly. Rub the nuts in a towel to remove as much loose skin as you can (some skins may not come off), then cool to room temperature. If you are using blanched almonds you do not have to toast them.

Pulse nuts and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. (The sugar used during grinding the nuts absorbs the oil from the nuts and prevents the nuts from turning into a paste.)

Rub the zest with your finger with the flour to release the oil. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon + clove + nutmeg powder in a bowl. Set aside.

Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer or 6 minutes with a hand held mixer. Add nut mixture and beat until well combined, about a couple of minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

With floured hands, gather up the dough and form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

Roll out 1 disk of dough into an 5-6-inch round (1/6 inch thick) between 2 sheets of wax paper (keep remaining dough chilled). If dough becomes too soft to roll out, re-wrap in plastic and chill until firm.

Use one disc to cut out the base (without the center hole) and the other disc to cut out the top cookie.( I have used a Linzer cookie cutter, so I did not have to use a smaller cutter.) Make sure that you equal number of cookies, to pair the top and the bottom.

Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with the Linzer cookie cutter and transfer to 2 un-greased large baking sheets, arranging about 1 inch apart. Using smaller cutters, cut out centers from half of the cookies, reserving centers and re-rolling along with scraps (re-roll only once).

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.

Make more cookies from second disk in the same way as above.

Make sure you dust the fronts with powdered sugar before you made the sandwich.

Spread about 1 teaspoon jam on flat side of 1 solid cookie and sandwich jam with flat side of 1 windowed cookie. Sandwich remaining cookies in same manner.

Store in airtight container and they will stay good for a couple of days.

But it is best if they are sandwiched with the jam/preserve right when you are ready to serve

A crispy buttery delicacy with a spiced filling. Rich, but very very light and as you can imagine, they did not last very long.

Recipe Source: http://www.ecurry.com/blog/desserts/linzer-cookies-with-spiced-jam/