Valentine Linzer Tart Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 T unsalted butter, softened (we like Amish Butter)
Scant, 2/3 cup white sugar, remove about 1 T from the 2/3 cup
1 Alstede Farms fresh egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups roasted, ground hazelnuts
1/8 t kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3-1/2 c Alstede Farms quality strawberry or Raspberry,
Route 24, B.E.A.R. Jam, or jam of choice
Confectioners’ sugar for decoration, if desired

Instructions:
Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is well blended.
Beat in the egg yolk, mixture should be fluffy.
In a second bowl mix together the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture stirring by hand with a wooden spoon or on low speed of a mixer.
Add the ground nuts to the mix and continue to stir until all of the hazelnuts are incorporated into the mixture.
The dough should be stiff, it will be too sticky to roll. Shape the dough into a ball. Cut the ball in ½ and then flatten each ½ into a disc.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.
Working with one piece of dough at a time. On a very lightly floured board roll the dough to ¼” thickness. Cut with a 2”- 2 ½” heart or round cutter or shape of your choice.
Place hearts onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, cookies should be about ½-3/4” apart. Cookies will not really spread. Push together any leftover pieces of dough, flatten, and gently re-roll. Handle the dough as
little as possible. Cut out a few more circles. If at any time dough becomes difficult to work with, chill. Place the sheet in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll the second sheet. Cut the circles and this time cut out a center circle, heart, or design of choice. Collect all dough scraps, press together, and repeat the process.
You can bake some of the tiny centers to give your cookie tray a different effect. You should have the same number of solid and cut out hearts/circles. Chill this tray.

Bake the 1st tray in the center of the oven. 10-12 minutes. The solid shape will take a little longer than the cutouts. Edges should slightly browned.
Allow the cookies to set on the tray for a few minutes. Remove them to a cooling rack, cool completely.
Spread top of each of the solid circles, do not go all the way to the edge. There should be a little extra jam in the middle. Do not spread jam all the way to the edge Do not overfill.
Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with confectioners’ sugar Lift the cookies gently, holding the edges so that you do not get fingerprints. Very gently press tops onto jam covered bottoms, use caution so that
cookie top does not crack.
Yield about 24 cookies, depending on the size of your cutter.

Recipe & photo provided by Jenn Borealo,
Culinary Specialist at Alstede Farms

 

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