My Mother’s Linzer Cookies - Wolfgang Puck BTOBR0050 Bistro collection Manual

My Mother's Linzer Cookies
About 3 dozen cookies
My mother would always begin baking in early December and keep it up right
through the holidays. But she wasn't working frantically the whole time. She just
knew that the earlier you start your holiday baking, the more you'll be free to
enjoy the big celebrations. The ingredients in her cookies promote tenderness and
retain moisture so that they stand up well to storage for several weeks when
properly packed. My mother's Linzer cookies not only stay moist thanks to their
ground hazelnuts and raspberry jam, but they actually improve in flavor as their
subtle blend of spices matures. They remain one of my favorites.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound whole shelled hazelnuts
1 cup cake flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature if using a
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup raspberry jam
Powdered sugar for dusting
METHOD
1 Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spread the hazelnuts in a single laser on a baking
sheet and toast them in the oven until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Empty
them into a folded kitchen towel, enclosing them between the folds, and rub
them to remove their skins. Transfer the nuts to a food processor fitted with
the stainless steel blade and discard the skins. Add the flours. Process until
the nuts are finely ground.
2 In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl
with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar together
at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg, cinnamon, nutmeg,
cloves, salt, and lemon zest and continue mixing for 1 minute. Reduce the
speed to low and gradually add the nut-flour mixture. Mix just until the
mixture comes together into a smooth dough. Scrape the dough onto a sheet
of plastic wrap and gently press it into a flat disc about 2 inches thick. Wrap
the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours, or
preferably overnight.
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Linzer Cookies (cont.)
3 Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into quarters. Place one
piece between two sheets of lightly dusted parchment paper and roll out to
an even 1/8 - inch thickness. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Place in
the freezer for 15 minutes or longer.
4 Preheat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the lower third. Line baking
sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the freezer, one sheet
at a time. Carefully peel the top piece of parchment off the dough and, using
a round 2-inch fluted- or straight-edged cookie cutter, cut out circles of
dough. With a 1/2 - inch diameter circular cookie cutter, cut out holes from
the centers of half of the larger circles, giving them shapes resembling rings
(the holes will make nice mini-cookies).
5 Carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheets, placing them about 1/2
inch apart. If the dough is too soft to transfer easily, return it to the freezer
for 15 to 30 minutes. If you need to bake the cookies in batches make sure
you let the baking sheets cool before baking each batch. Bake the cookies in
the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 14 minutes. Slide the
parchment onto cooling racks, wait 10 minutes, and then carefully transfer
the cookies to the racks to cool completely.
6 Return the cookies to your work surface. Place a scant teaspoon of jam on
each cookie without the holes and spread in an even layer. Generously dust
the cookies with the holes with powdered sugar, either from a sugar sifter or
from a fine-mesh sieve held over the cookies and tapped with your hand, and
neatly place them on top of the jam so the jam pokes out of the center.
Recipe Courtesy Wolfgang Puck Makes it Easy.
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