Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup almonds, toasted and skinned
- 8 Tbls. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
- 3⁄4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1⁄4 tsp. almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4 tsp. salt
- About 1⁄4 cup seedless raspberry or strawberry jam
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a food processor, finely grind the almonds using short pulses. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the granulated sugar and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract and beat until blended.
- Sift together the flour, cinnamon and salt into another bowl. Add the ground almonds and stir to blend. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until blended. The dough should be soft. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide into 4 equal portions and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
- Remove 1 portion of the dough at a time from the refrigerator and roll out 1⁄4 inch thick on a floured surface. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Using a small cutter of the same shape, cut out the center of half of the cookies. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough, then reroll the dough scraps as needed. If the dough becomes sticky, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes before rolling out.
- Using a thin spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are firm to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks. Loosen the cookies with the spatula, but leave the cookies on the sheets until thoroughly cooled.
- To assemble, spread the solid cookies with a thin layer (about 1 tsp.) of jam to within about 1⁄4 inch of the edges. Dust the cutout cookies generously with confectioners’ sugar. Top the solid cookies with the cutout cookies.
- Enjoy!!
- Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma