Linzer Augen Linzer Eyes Aka Linzer Tarts Or Linzer Cookies Recipes

LINZER TARTS

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.

LINZER TARTS

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.

LINZER AUGEN (LINZER EYES AKA LINZER TARTS OR LINZER COOKIES)

Steps:

• Finely grind the almonds in a food processor, using short pulses. (It may help to put some of the granulated sugar you will be using in with the nuts as you are pulsing them. The sugar will absorb some of the oil that is produced helping to prevent it from becoming almond paste.).
• In a large bowl, beat the butter on high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and pale. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until combined. Reduce the speed to low. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extracts and beat until blended.
• Sift together the flour, cinnamon and salt into another bowl. Add the ground almonds and stir to blend.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed or stir with a spoon until blended. The dough should be soft.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide the dough into four equal portions and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
• Remove 1 portion of the dough at a time from the refrigerator. Place dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll out 1/4 inch thick.
• Using a cookie cutter or glass about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out the cookies. Using a 1 1/4-inch cutter, cut a hole in the center of only half of the cookies.
• Repeat with the remaining portions of dough, then re-roll the dough scraps as needed to make 24 cutouts total, cutting holes in half of them.
• If the dough becomes sticky, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes before rolling out.
• Using a thin spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are firm to the touch, about 12 minutes.
• Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks. Loosen the cookies with the spatula, but leave the cookies on the sheets until thoroughly cooled.
• To assemble, spread the solid cookies with a thin layer (about 1 tsp.) of preserves to within about 1/4 inch of the edges. Top the solid cookies with the cutout cookies.
• Dust the cookies generously with confectioners' sugar and fill the hole with more jam.

LINZER AUGEN

Steps:

• Place oven rack in the center position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread almonds onto a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until almonds are lightly toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
• Pulse almonds with 1/4 cup white sugar in a food processor until finely ground.
• Whisk flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Beat butter and remaining 1/2 cup white sugar together in a separate bowl until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolks, vanilla extract, ground almond mixture, and flour mixture until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 3 to 12 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface; cut into cookies using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place cookies about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Cut the centers out of half the cookies using a smaller cookie cutter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned around the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• Place the cut-out cookies on a baking sheet and lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Spread a thin layer of jam onto the full cookies. Place the cut-out cookies on top of the full cookies; gently sandwich them together. Spoon more jam into the cut-out area.