Tropical Macadamia Nut Linzer Cookies Recipes

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Position racks in the lower and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350. Place the almonds and pecans on a baking sheet; toast on the upper oven rack until lightly browned and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Let cool, then pulse in a food processor with 1/4 cup granulated sugar until finely ground. (Don't overprocess or the mixture will turn into a paste.) Turn off the oven.
• Whisk the flour, cinnamon, cardamom and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Using a mixer, beat the butter and the remaining 11/4 cups granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks, and the lemon and orange zest; add the ground nuts. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated (do not overmix). Divide the dough into 2 pieces; place 1 piece between 2 lightly floured sheets of parchment paper and roll into a 14-inch square, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the other piece of dough. Refrigerate both rectangles, covered with the parchment sheets, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the dough into hearts with a 21/4- to 21/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Using a smaller heart-shaped cutter (about 11/2 inches), cut out the centers from half of the cookies (you can reroll the centers and scraps). Place the cookies, about 1 inch apart, on baking sheets and bake 2 sheets at a time until the edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Cool on wire racks.
• Sift confectioners' sugar over the cookies. Spread 1 teaspoon raspberry preserves evenly over each whole heart cookie, leaving a slight border around the edge; top with the cut-out heart cookies.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Spread the hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Shake the pan halfway through baking to ensure that the nuts toast evenly. Allow the nuts to cool. Gather the hazelnuts into a kitchen towel and rub them together to remove the skins.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the hazelnuts and almonds with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon, and process until it's the consistency of a fine meal. Add the flour and pulse a few times to combine.
• Separate and discard the whites of the eggs. Push the egg yolks through a fine-mesh sieve, scraping the yolks off the bottom of the sieve and into the flour mixture. Pulse on and off a few times to combine.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and lemon zest on low 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sugar and mix on medium, 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the almond extract and mix to combine. Turn the mixer off, add the nut mixture, and mix on low until just incorporated.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten into a rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours or overnight.
• Divide the dough in 1/2 and return one 1/2 to the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness, flouring the surface of the dough as necessary. Using the shaped cutter, cutting as closely together as possible, cut out the cookies. Place them 1-inch apart on 1 to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets to chill until firm, 30 to 45 minutes. Set the scraps aside.
• Roll and cut out the remaining dough in the same manner. Gather all the scraps together, chill, roll, and cut to make the tops. Using the small cutter, cut out the center s of 1/2 of the cookies and chill until firm, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and lightly browned, rotating the baking sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. The cookies with the holes may bake more quickly than the others. Allow to cool and dust the perforated cookies with powdered sugar.
• Flip over the cookies without holes, placing the darker side of the cookie underneath. Spoon about 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the raspberry jam into the center. Place the perforated cookies, powdered sugar side up, on top of the jam, matching up the edges and pressing gently to spread the jam.

TROPICAL KEY LIME WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F (180C).
• In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract at high speed until well combined.
• Add the egg, lime juice and lime zest and beat for 1 additional minute.
• Gradually add in the flour mixture.
• Stir in the nuts, coconut and white chocolate chips by hand.
• Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8-11 minutes or until edges are slightly brown.

MACADAMIA-LIME ICEBOX COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine the macadamia nuts and 1 tablespoon superfine sugar in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped; pour into a small bowl and set aside. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Beat the butter, remaining 3/4 cup superfine sugar and the lime zest in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg until well combined, 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture. Beat in the food coloring until evenly green. Stir in the macadamia nuts with a rubber spatula.
• Turn out the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log, about 10 inches long. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Trim the ends of the dough log. Roll the log in green sugar until completely coated. Slice the log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange the rounds 2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Sprinkle with more green sugar.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are firm around the edges but not browned, 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the pans.

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.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter with paddle attachment. Add sugar and continue creaming. Add the egg, lemon, and vanilla and mix. Add nuts and mix. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl and add to mixer and blend. Form into disks, wrap and chill. Roll out dough with floured rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut out disks, fluted if desired, approximately 2 inches in diameter. Cut out the centers of half the disks with a cutter in the shape of your choice. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Chill cut out dough. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 12 minutes or until edges turn golden then cool on a wire rack. Heat the jam and spread the solid disks with a layer of the hot jam. Glue on the lids pressing down lightly. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, then fill the holes with more jam. Let set slightly before serving.