Linzer Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough in thirds. Shape each into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. holiday cookie cutters. Using floured 1-in. shaped cookie cutters, cut out the centers of half of the cookies., Place solid and window cookies 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining portions of dough. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Sprinkle window cookies with additional confectioners' sugar. Spread 1 teaspoon Nutella on the bottom of each solid cookie; place window cookies over filling.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and lemon zest; mix well. Place almonds in a blender, cover and process until ground. Combine the almonds, flour, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture until well blended. Remove 1/3 cup of dough. Roll between two sheets of waxed paper to 1/8-in. thickness. Freeze for 8-10 minutes or until firm., Press remaining dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 11-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Spread raspberry preserves over crust. Remove remaining dough from freezer; using small cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes. Place over preserves., Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes. Loosen sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove sides of pan.

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, the ground almonds, and cinnamon. Mix in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.
• Shape the dough into a ball; divide it in half. Wrap both halves in wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles. You should now have about 12 circles.
• Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Refrigerate while working with remaining dough.
• Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but after placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven until light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes.
• Spread a thin coating of jam on each of the cookie rounds. Set a cutout cookie on top of each, pressing the two together so they make a sandwich. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each tart and sprinkle the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Cream butter, add sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients and blend thoroughly.
• Chill for about 1/2 an hour.
• Roll out dough between 1/8 and 1/4 inch on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut half of the dough with flower cookie cutter, and the other half with the same cutter, but with centers removed.
• Bake each batch 6-10 minutes at 400 degrees, or until just golden brown.
• Spread preserves on whole cookies (bottoms), and top with cutouts.
• Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar until covered.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended. Add flour, beating at low speed until blended.
• Roll dough into small balls and place on greased cookie sheets, two inches apart. Flatten dough balls with a flat-bottomed cup wrapped in a damp paper towel.
• Dip a thimble or small round cutter in flour and cut out a small circle in the center of exactly half of the cookies.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (The cookies will be pale. The cut out halves will bake faster so watch closely.) Transfer carefully to wire racks to cool.
• Spread raspberry preserves on top of solid cookies. Top with remaining cookies, bottom sides down, to make sandwiches. Sift powdered sugar over tops of cookies.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Using an electric mixer on low speed, cream the butter and both sugars together to a smooth and creamy consistency. Slowly add one egg at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully into the creamed sugar mixture before adding the next. Stop the machine, scrape down the sides of a bowl with a spatula, reset the machine on low, and add the salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and allpurpose flour. Continue mixing for several minutes until the flour is fully incorporated. With the mixer still running, add the ground almond flour and allow it to become fully incorporated before removing from the mixer.
• Turn the dough out onto a board that has been dusted with flour. Pat the dough down using your hands and divide it into two pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll the first piece into a 1/4 inchthick rectangularshaped piece that will fit on a cookie sheet or into a 9 by 13 baking pan. Roll out the second piece of dough to the same thickness, then cut it into 1/2-inch wide strips with a crinkleedge cutter. These strips will be used to form the lattice crust.
• Place the solid piece of dough on a lightly buttered cookie sheet or baking pan. Spread the raspberry jam evenly across the dough's surface. Use the cut strips of dough to form an open latticework crust over the top of the jam. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into 11/2to 2inch square bar cookies.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart or spade shaped cutter. Place all the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.
• Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners' sugar on the top.

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, the ground almonds, and cinnamon. Mix in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.
• Shape the dough into a ball; divide it in half. Wrap both halves in wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles. You should now have about 12 circles.
• Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Refrigerate while working with remaining dough.
• Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but after placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven until light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes.
• Spread a thin coating of jam on each of the cookie rounds. Set a cutout cookie on top of each, pressing the two together so they make a sandwich. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each tart and sprinkle the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Mix dough, nuts, flour.
• Pat 3/4 dough in 9 in.
• tart pan.
• Spread with preserves.
• Roll remaining dough in 8 (10") ropes.
• Make lattice; seal to edge.
• Bake at 350F 42 minutes.
• Let cool.
• Dust with confectioners sugar.

Steps:

• For the Dough: cream softened butter with powdered sugar until well blended.
• Add the orange extract to the butter mixture and stir well to incorporate.
• Stir in the sifted flour one cup at a time, mixing well.
• Chill dough 2 or more hours before rolling.
• Fill with raspberry or apricot preserves or a mixture of the two.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured board with floured rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut with 2 inch round cutter (scalloped cutter is nice) and place on ungreased baking sheet.
• Cut out small center circle with 1 inch or smaller cutter in 1/2 of the cookies.
• (Reroll scraps as you go).
• Bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes, until pale golden and edges are starting to brown.
• Cool completely on a wire rack at least 1/2 hour.
• Place all the tops (with the inner circles cut out) close together on a sheet of waxed paper.
• Dust sifted powdered sugar thickly over the tops.
• Place the bottoms on another sheet of waxed paper.
• Spread 2 teaspoons preserves very carefully on each bottom cookie.
• Spread evenly leaving 1/4 inch rim without preserves around the edge.
• Spread the preserves without picking up the cookie; use a flat knife and work right on the waxed paper covered surface.
• Top each preserve covered bottom cookie with a sugared top cookie, lightly holding it at the edges.
• Carefully transfer to a serving plate.
• Do not try to stack or store these very long.
• The basic cookies could be packed and frozen, but the assembled cookies should be made the day they are to be served.
• PS the original recipe gave the above warning about stacking and storing, but I have made them at Christmas and stacked them between sheets of waxed paper in a tin with no problem.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheet with Reynolds Parchment Paper; set aside. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and almonds. Stir in melted butter, almond extract and egg until stiff dough forms.
• On floured surface, roll half of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch round or fluted cookie cutter. On lined cookie sheets, place cookies 2 inches apart.
• Bake 7 to 9 minutes minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• Meanwhile, on floured surface, roll other half of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with linzer cutter with hole in center, OR cut with same 2-inch round or fluted cookie cutter and use small 1-inch cutter or bottle top to cut round hole out of center of each cookie. On lined cookie sheets, place cookies 2 inches apart.
• Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• Spread 1 teaspoon jam on bottom of each whole cookie; top each with cutout cookie to make sandwich cookie. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High about 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds, until melted and stirred smooth. Using tip of fork or knife, drizzle chocolate in lines over cookies. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 45 minutes. Store between sheets of Reynolds Parchment Paper in tightly covered container.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will come off easily). Let cool.
• In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess; you don't want the mixture to become a paste.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nut mixture; set aside.
• In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and beat 1 minute to combine. With mixer on low speed, add ground nuts and flour mixture all at once.
• Divide dough in half. Set a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingers, press 1 dough half into tart pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roll remaining dough half between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour to a 12-inch round; place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using an offset spatula, spread jam evenly over chilled dough in tart pan; set aside. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 3/4-inch-wide strips from chilled round of dough. Arrange strips on top of jam in a lattice pattern. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until torte is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Torte can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, if using.