Ingredients
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) soft butter
- 1 C powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting final cookies
- 1 ½ cups finely ground hazelnuts or Bob’s Red Mill hazelnut flour
- zest of 1 lemon
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 ⅔ C flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves
Directions
In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth then slowly add the sugar and cream until fluffy.
Add hazelnut meal and lemon/orange zest, then beat in egg yolks one at a time. Scrape down the mixer and add the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and blend until soft dough forms.
Divide the dough between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap, pat into roughly 6” squares, wrap tightly and chill for at least one hour up to 3 days.
When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working between 2 sheets of parchment, roll each square of dough into approximately ⅛” thickness and cut using a 2” round or square cutter. Dough scraps can be re-rolled and cut (rolling between parchment prevents the dough from sticking without using flour, which can be streaky in the final cookies and also work in extra flour to the dough, making the scraps unusable).
Carefully transfer each cookie to the baking sheet and, for half of the cookies, cut a small shape out of the center (this will create a “windowpane” effect for the final sandwich cookies). It can be any shape approximately ¾” in diameter. For the cleanest edges, cookies should be chilled or frozen for 20 minutes before baking.
Bake cookies until deep golden brown, about 12-15 minutes, and allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack.
Once all cookies are baked and fully cooled, spread Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves on the bottoms (the whole cookies) and carefully set the top cookies pressing down lightly to adhere. Lightly dust the finished cookies with powdered sugar. Linzer are best eaten the day they are made, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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