Austrian Linzer Cookies

Linzer cookies define holiday baking! Sharing with you a recipe that I took from Woman’s Day magazine in 1992. (Yes, it’s really that old!) I have been baking these every year since then and the recipe has never failed. They're not only delicious, linzers are by far the prettiest cookies of the season!

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup blanched almonds finely ground in a food processor

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, yolk separated from white

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam

Procedure

1. Mix flour, almonds, cocoa, cinnamon, and cloves.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and egg yolk with electric mixer until pale and fluffy.  With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture until blended. 

3. Press together to form a dough. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour or until dough is firm enough to handle.

4. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

5. On a floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll dough out to 1/8 in thickness. Cut dough with 1 1/2 in round cookie cutter. Place half the rounds 1/2 in apart on prepared cookie sheets.  With 3/4 in heart-shaped cutter, cut out hearts from centers of remaining rounds. 

6. With fork, beat egg white and water until foamy. Brush solid rounds with egg-white mixture.  Top with rounds that have cut-out hearts in center. Brush tops and sides of cookies with egg-white mixture.

7. Bake 12-15 minutes until cookies are firm and light brown around the edges. Remove to wire rack to cool.

8. Re-roll scraps and remaining dough. Cut out and bake as directed. Store unfilled cookies airtight up to 2 weeks or freeze.

9. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar. Stir jam to make it runny, then put into a plastic bag. Snip off a very small tip of one corner. Carefully pipe jam unto hearts.

Makes 60 cookies. Per cookie: 50 calories, 1 g protein, 5 g carbs, 3 g fat, 8 mg chol, 17 mg sodium.