Maria Pucks Linzer Cookies Recipes

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined. Add butter and pulse several times until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and keep pulsing until dough starts to clump together. The dough should be crumbly with large clumps. If dough is too dry, add a bit of water. Another way to check if the dough is done is to take a piece of dough and press it between your thumbs - the dough should stick well together without feeling dry. Avoid overworking the dough throughout the process.
• Turn the dough to a floured surface and form into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line pans with parchment paper and set aside.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface until it's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick (for sandwich cookies I prefer thin cookies). Cut 60 rounds or hearts of dough using a 2 inch (5 cm) cookie cutter. Using a smaller round (or other shape) cutter, cut a hole into the center of 30 of the cookies.
• Transfer cookies gently using a thin spatula to the prepared baking sheets, placing them 1 inch apart.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are golden just at the edges. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sift powdered sugar on top of the cookies with the holes.
• Put about 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of the whole cookies, then place the cookies with the holes on top, and press gently.
• Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

MARIA PUCK'S LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Toasting the hazelnuts: Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Empty into a folded kitchen towel, rub to remove the skins, and discard the skins. Leave to cool to room temperature, then empty into a food processor.
• Making the dough: Add the cake flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, butter, egg, and lemon zest. Pulse on and off several time; then, process until the nuts are ground and a soft dough has formed, stopping once or twice as necessary to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Chilling the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface. Separate into 2 equal pieces, dusting lightly with flour. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, flattening and shaping it into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Rolling out the dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, line large rimmed baking sheets with silicon sheets or parchment paper. On another silicon sheet or a lightly flour-dusted work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Roll out the second piece the same way.
• Cutting the cookies: With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch cutter, preferably star-shaped, cut out cookies from one piece of dough close to each other. Pull away dough around the shapes. With a thin spatula, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the second piece. Use a 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the fragile cookies completely on the baking sheets.
• Filling & finishing the cookies: Transfer the whole cookies to a work surface. Spread each with jam. Sift powdered sugar over the cookies with cutout centers. Gently press powdered sugar cookies on top of the jam on the whole cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight tins.

LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position the rack in the middle of the oven.
• Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until golden, about 10 minutes. Turn oven off since you will not need it on again for at least 45 minutes. Empty nuts onto a folded towel, enclosing them between the folds, and rub them to remove their skins. Transfer the nuts to a strainer and carefully discard the skins. Allow nuts to cool to room temperature.
• Put the hazelnuts in a food processor fitted with the stainless-steel blade and pulse a few times. Add cake flour and process until the nuts are finely ground. Set aside.
• In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest on medium speed until light and creamy. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Over medium speed, add the egg and continue mixing for 1 more minute. Reduce the speed to low, add the hazelnut-flour mixture, and continue mixing until well blended into a smooth dough.
• Divide the dough into 2 portions, with 1 portion about 8 ounces or 1/3 of the dough. Transfer to a medium pastry bag fitted with a number 1 plain tip and set aside. With the remaining 2/3 of the dough (about 20 ounces), form into a 1-inch flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• With a marking pen, trace a 16 by 13-inch rectangle shape on parchment paper. Place paper, marked side down, onto a baking sheet. With the reserved dough in the pastry bag, pipe straight parallel lines, about 1-inch apart, inside the marked rectangle. Then pipe a second set of parallel lines at a 45 degree angle to the first set of lines to make a trellis shape. Refrigerate until needed (dough should be well chilled before using).
• With more cake flour, lightly dust a pastry board or work surface with flour. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a rectangular shape, about 15 by 12 inches by 1/4-inch thick. Transfer dough to a parchment lined baking sheet and trim any excess dough to make an even rectangle. Bake for 20 minutes, or until dough starts to color. Remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a rack. Leave oven on. Allow dough to cool for at least 10 minutes.
• Spread raspberry jam over the entire surface of the cooled dough. Carefully place the refrigerated trellis-shaped dough over the jam. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden in color. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Trim edges and then cut into 3 by 1-inch bars. Lightly dust bars with powdered sugar.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix the flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and the allspice in a large bowl until combined. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the almonds and caster sugar. Drizzle in the egg and mix with a cutlery knife until the dough comes together in large clumps. Using your hands, knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a tight, compact disc. If the dough is still very soft, chill for 15 mins.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly dusted work surface to 5mm thickness. Stamp out 20 x 7cm rounds using a crinkle-edged cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Re-roll the off-cuts and cut out as many more biscuits as you can (you need to end up with an even number). Use a small round or other festive cutter to stamp a circle from the centre of half the biscuits. Chill all the biscuits in the freezer for 20 mins or the fridge for 30 mins until firm.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for about 10-12 mins, or until lightly golden and sandy to the touch. Leave to cool for 5 mins on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix the icing sugar with the rest of the cinnamon and dust this over the cut-out biscuits. Spoon the jam over the whole biscuits and smooth with the back of a spoon. Sandwich these with the icing-sugar-dusted biscuits. Will keep in an airtight container for six days. Best eaten within three days.

MARIA PUCK'S LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Toasting the hazelnuts: Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Empty into a folded kitchen towel, rub to remove the skins, and discard the skins. Leave to cool to room temperature, then empty into a food processor.
• Making the dough: Add the cake flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, butter, egg, and lemon zest. Pulse on and off several time; then, process until the nuts are ground and a soft dough has formed, stopping once or twice as necessary to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Chilling the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface. Separate into 2 equal pieces, dusting lightly with flour. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, flattening and shaping it into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Rolling out the dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, line large rimmed baking sheets with silicon sheets or parchment paper. On another silicon sheet or a lightly flour-dusted work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Roll out the second piece the same way.
• Cutting the cookies: With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch cutter, preferably star-shaped, cut out cookies from one piece of dough close to each other. Pull away dough around the shapes. With a thin spatula, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the second piece. Use a 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the fragile cookies completely on the baking sheets.
• Filling & finishing the cookies: Transfer the whole cookies to a work surface. Spread each with jam. Sift powdered sugar over the cookies with cutout centers. Gently press powdered sugar cookies on top of the jam on the whole cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight tins.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, cocoa, salt and spices; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in almonds. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. round or cookie cutter. From the center of half the cookies, cut out a 1-1/2-in. shape., Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Spread bottom of each solid cookie with 1/2 teaspoon jam. Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners' sugar; carefully place over jam.