Linzer Macaroon Sandwiches Recipes

Steps:

• For the cookie batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes.
• In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Mix and roll the cookies: Because this dough has a good amount of butter, it needs resting time and it needs to be rolled fairly quickly. Lay three large pieces of wax paper in a single layer on a flat surface. Sprinkle each one with a light coating of flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place one third of the batter on each of the pieces of wax paper. Coat with another light layer of flour and top with another piece of wax paper of the same length to make three dough "sandwiches." Press these wax-paper-and-dough-sandwiches down with your hands until the dough is fairly thin. This will save a lot of time on rolling later on. Place two of them in the refrigerator and work with them one at a time. Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8 inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other two. Let them chill at least 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch stars (or rounds) as you can. Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange the stars neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a star, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies. Roll the scraps in between two of the pieces of wax paper and cut additional stars, if desired.
• Bake and assemble the cookie sandwiches: Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the trays for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. P
• Place the raspberry jam in a small pot and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a top star squarely on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place 1/3 of the batter on each piece of waxed paper. Coat dough with a light layer of flour, and top with another piece of waxed paper of the same length to make 3 batter "sandwiches". Place 2 of them in the refrigerator and work with 1 at a time.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8-inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other 2 pieces of dough.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch hearts (or rounds). Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange them neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a heart, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies to create a heart outline. Roll the scraps in between 2 pieces of waxed paper and cut additional hearts, if desired.
• Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. In a small pot, pour in the raspberry jam and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly as well.
• Spoon about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a "top" heart on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Finely grind 1 2/3 cups slivered almonds and 1 1/3 cups sugar in processor. Add egg whites and almond extract; process until well blended (dough will be sticky).
• Using slightly rounded teaspoonful for each cookie, roll dough between damp palms of hands into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Flatten each ball slightly to 1 1/4-inch-diameter round. Gently press a few sliced almonds into each cookie.
• Bake cookies until light golden, about 18 minutes. Slide parchment with cookies onto racks; cool completely.
• Stir preserves and 2 tablespoons water in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.
• Spoon 1/2 teaspoon raspberry preserves onto flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, flat side down. Press to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and preserves. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month. Cookies may soften slightly.) Sift powdered sugar over cookies.

Steps:

• Pulse together flour and almonds in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. Add cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and pulse to blend. (Alternatively, whisk together flour, ground almonds or almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.)
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.
• Add in dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed, just until incorporated.
• Divide dough in 2 equal pieces, and wrap each piece in cling film, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours, up to 5 days ahead.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper so it's about 1/8 inch thick. (Because of the almonds, the dough may crack in places while you're rolling it out. This is O.K., just patch it up with scraps.)
• Using a round cookie cutter 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Take half of these circles and cut out a 1-inch circle from the interior of the larger circles, creating a doughnut shape that will become the top of the cookie. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any scraps of dough, combine them and roll them out, chilling as necessary. Transfer dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart and bake until the edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• To assemble the linzer cookies, spread about a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the flat sides of the larger circles. Dust the tops of the cutout circles with powdered sugar and place on top of raspberry jam.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spread hazelnuts in ungreased shallow baking pan. Bake uncovered about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove loose skins (some skins may not come off); cool 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off oven.
• In food processor bowl with metal blade, place nuts and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar . Cover; process with about 10 on-and-off pulses, 2 to 3 seconds each, until nuts are finely ground but not oily.
• In small bowl, mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed about 3 minutes or until smooth. Add nut mixture; beat about 1 minute or until mixed. Beat in egg and vanilla. With spoon, stir in flour mixture about 1 minute or just until blended. Shape dough into 2 balls; flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours until firm.
• Heat oven to 425°F. Remove 1 dough disk from refrigerator. On well floured surface, roll dough with floured rolling pin until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut with 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter in desired shape. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts about 1 inch apart.
• Roll and cut other half of dough. Using a 1-inch square or round cutter, cut out the center of half of the cookies. Reroll dough centers and cut out more cookies.
• Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool about 10 minutes.
• Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar over cookies with center cutouts. Or drizzle with powdered sugar icing, and sprinkle with colored sugars or decors. Spread about 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over bottom side of each whole cookie. Top with a cutout cookie. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Beat 1 egg white, the almond paste, confectioners' sugar, and almond extract with a mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add Grand Marnier and orange zest, and beat until combined, about 1 minute.
• Turn out dough onto a clean surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar, and roll into two 3/4-inch-thick logs, about 18 inches long. Cut each log crosswise into thirty 1/2-inch pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
• Lightly beat remaining egg white. Brush onto each dough ball, and roll in sugar, tapping to remove excess. Transfer to prepared baking sheets. Let stand for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently pinch each piece of dough with three fingers to form an irregular pyramid shape. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks, and let cool completely. (Macaroons can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
• Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until whites are foamy; beat in white sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks. Sift confectioners' sugar and ground almonds in a separate bowl and quickly fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, about 30 strokes.
• Spoon a small amount of batter into a plastic bag with a small corner cut off and pipe a test disk of batter, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, onto prepared baking sheet. If the disk of batter holds a peak instead of flattening immediately, gently fold the batter a few more times and retest.
• When batter is mixed enough to flatten immediately into an even disk, spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet in rounds, leaving space between the disks. Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a hard skin on top, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 285 degrees F (140 degrees C).
• Bake cookies until set but not browned, about 10 minutes; let cookies cool completely before filling.