A Delicious Christmas Cookie Recipe - The Stylish Girl's Easy Guide to the Holidays - Day 14

Christmas is not Christmas without Christmas cookies. Everyone has their recipes. I just go straight in for the dough. Every Christmas Eve, my grandmother's cook would bring my brother and me raw sugar cookie dough wrapped in tin foil. I can't believe my mother allowed us to eat on it for days. But I'm telling you it was THE BEST sugar cookie recipe ever. I managed to find the recipe this past summer with the help of my sleuthing cousins, and it's now in the family vault.

So, for a let down, that's not the recipe I'll be sharing with you today. I'd have to get the permission of 17 cousins. Maybe next year. In the meantime, this is a close second for the best Christmas cookie recipe. Linzer cookies!

Traditional Linzer Cookies (an Austrian almond-based cookie with jam)

- 1 cup whole almonds (blanched or natural)

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- Zest of one small lemon

- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar, divided

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- 2 large egg yolks

Topping:

- 1/2 cup confectioners' (Powdered) Sugar

- 1/2 cup Raspberry or Apricot Jam (can use other flavored jams), well stirred

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) with the oven rack in the center of the oven. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and bake about 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven and once the nuts have cooled, place in a food processor, along with 1/4 cup white sugar, and process until finely ground.

In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, and lemon zest.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and egg yolks. Finally, beat in the ground almonds and then the flour mixture. Divide the dough in half, cover each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (30-60 minutes, or up to two days).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one ball of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter (round, square, heart, etc.) cut out the cookies. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking sheet. Reroll any scraps and cut out the remaining cookies. Repeat with the second ball of dough. (Note: If you find the cookies are soft, place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to chill the dough. This will prevent the cookies from spreading and losing their shape when baked.) Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Assemble Cookies: Place the cut out cookies on a baking sheet and lightly dust the tops with powdered sugar. Spread a thin layer of jam on the bottom surface of the full cookie (top of cookie will face out). Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together. Using a small spoon or a piping bag, fill the cut-out with a little more jam.

The filled cookies will soften when stored. If you want the cookies to stay crisp, assemble the day of serving. The assembled cookies can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for several days.

Makes about 26 - 3 inch (7.5 cm) Linzer Cookies.