Linzer Cookies

By far these are the best cookies I have ever baked. These have almost a melting in the mouth texture. Especially, when eaten all dressed up with a heavy shower of castor sugar and sandwiched with jam…these are simply ittesistible. If the pictures don’t testify the taste I will appeal you to make a small batch (which I promise you will regret later) to see it yourself.

Baking in India is not very easy, and I guess all bloggers residing in India ,  serious in baking, will agree with me. Starting from a mere necessity like muffin liners to very little known  ……paper you don’t get things easily even in big cities like Bangalore. I have drooled and drooled and almost turned green with envy every time saw bloggers baking good breads (everyone will tastify especially Aipi)…now that I have found the perfect instant yeast (all thanks to Suma) I am in constant fear that what will I do if they stop stocking this specific brand. So when saw this Linzer cookies recipe in Good House Keeping, I instantly fell in love with these but was not sure where to find hazelnut…so like every time I again tried to replace it. This time with the huge stock of Almonds I had after Diwali.

Soon I was roasting the almonds and measuring flour. Making of the cookies are easy if you roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. Linzer cookies are cut with special cookie cutters specially made for this. I dint have any so again used 2 big and small bottle caps for the round ones (oops! now Hubby will know why the medicine bottle cap was missing for a couple of days) and a small heart shape cookie cutter for the smaller ones. Loved making every minute of it as these were my first sandwiched cookies but what made me content is my baby’s love for it.

This morning when I finished clicking suddenly he woke up and came to the room. He looked at the cookies and exclaimed “Bi Bi (biscuits)’’…I handed him one. He first licked the top coat of sugar and with a happy face declared “bhayo (bhalo or good)”, then he opened the top cookie and with his finger ate all the jam. Once the jam was finished he came to me demanding “abar abar (that literally means again but he says this also to mean some more). I loved every moment of it. Watching our kids grow is the most wonderful experience of life, and when they appreciate the the food we cook, thats the best reward.

 Between did you know Linzer cookies are actually is adapted from the very famous Linzer Torte named after the city of Linz in Austria. Linzer Torte is a holiday classic in the Austrian, Hungarian, Swiss, German, and Tirolean traditions, often eaten at Christmas. Linzer Torte is often made like small tarts or cookies in North American bakeries.(wiki)

Here is the recipe

Linzer Cookies

(Yields 2 dozens medium size)

Ingredients:

Flour: 11/2 cups

Almond: 1 cup loosely packed (if you get almond or hazelnut meal use 2/3 cup)

Butter: 6 tbsp

Sugar: 1/2 cup

Pinch of salt

Egg: 1

Cinnamon powder: ¼ tsp

Vanilla/lemon essence: ½ tsp

Baking powder: ¼ tsp

For sandwiching: Jam (I used strawberry jam which I thinned a little with strawberry syrup)

Castor sugar: for dusting

Method:

Take the almond in a micro proof bowl and cover with water. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Take out, rinse with cold water. Drain all the water and spread on a newspaper. Press almond between your finger the skin will come off easily.

Now dry roast the almonds in a skillet till it release a nice nutty aroma. Take off and let it completely before doing anything with it.

Grind the nuts with the sugar to a very fine dust texture. Do it by pulsing several times and make sure the nuts don’t release oil.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt. Keep aside.

Now with n nelectric mixer or a spatula cream the butter, add the sugar-nut mixture and cream once again. To this add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Tip in the flour-baking powder mixture in two batches, combing well after every addition. Make a sticky dough.

Divide it in two equal part, cover with plastic wrap and pat to make a 1/2" thick disk. Chill for 30 minutes.

Once you are ready to bake preheat the oven at 175 C.

Roll one dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to ¼” thickness. Cut with cookie cutters or bottle caps. 


Make sure that you cut one top and one bottom layer for the cookies. Cut out small circles or any shape of your choice on the middle of the top cookie. (see notes)

Repeat till all the dough is finished.

Place them on a greased cookie tray and bake for 12-14 minutes or till the sides turn a little golden brown.

Cool on wire rack and store in airtight container.

Before serving dust the top cookie with generous shower of castor sugar, and put jam on the bottom one. Sandwich and serve.

A Homemaker’s Note:

1. Make sure you cut a pair of cookies for the finished one. One cookie with a cut out at the center and the other whole.
2. You can alternatively pulse the almond with ¼ cup flour as well.
3. Here are some variations that fellow bloggers recently baked…
4. Soma’s Hazelnut Linzer cookies
5. Deeba’s walnut linzer cookies

1. Put jam only when you want to serve it or it will become soft.

So what did you bake this year for Christmas???

Events:

1. Champa's Bake off.

2. Suma's Birthday Giveaway.

3. Its the time to Jingle again at Asan khana.

Tags:

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