This year I wanted to try some Christmas cookies from other parts of the world, and my choice fell on the Austrian Linzer Augen or Linzer Plätzchen, they are biscuits with filling, traditionally marmelade, and sometimes nuts in the dough.
LINZER COOKIES
140 G ALMONDS WITH SKIN
110 G MUSCOVADO SUGAR
310 G FLOUR
½ TSP. BAKING POWDER
½ TSP. SALT
1/4 TSP. GROUND CINNAMON
200 G SOFTENED BUTTER
1 EGG
1 TSP. VANILLA SUGAR
MARMELADE, NUTELLA OR SALTED CARAMEL FOR FILLING
ICING SUGAR FOR DECORATION
Roast the almonds in a 180 degree celsius preheated oven. Allow them to cool completely.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set it aside.
Blitz the almonds with 55 g muscovado sugar in a blender to a fine crumb, do not let the blender run the entire time or you will end up with an oily mixture.
Beat the butter and the remaining muscovado sugar light and airy in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla sugar.
Slowly add the ground almonds and then the flour, mix until the dough just comes together.
Divide the dough in half, shape them into balls and press them flat.
Wrap them into cling film and place them in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. When rolling out the dough, place it on the kitchen table until it is soft enough to roll out, but still firm.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll out the dough on a surface sprinkled with flour to a thickness of 3-4 mm. Use your chosen cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and transfer them to the baking sheets. With a smaller cutter, you cut a hole in half of the biscuits.
Gather the leftover dough and repeat until there is no more left.
Bake one plate at a time for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool off on the baking sheet and then transfer them to a rack.
When the tops with holes are half-cooled, sift icing sugar over them.
Spread about ½-1 tsp. filling on the bottom with no hole. Sandwich them with a top and press them lightly together, so they stick together.
Store them in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
