Austrian Peach Cookie Recipes

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking until the sugar is dissolved.
• Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the bowl while whisking, then add all of the mixture back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly; let boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then stir in the preserves, schnapps and almond extract. Cool the pastry cream slightly, then cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
• For the cookies: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the sugar, milk, butter, nectar, schnapps and eggs in a large bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth to make a thick, sticky dough.
• Lightly grease your hands with the oil and roll tablespoons of the dough into balls, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time, until the undersides of the cookies are golden and the tops are just set, about 15 minutes. Cool just a few minutes. While the cookies are still warm, use a sharp paring knife to cut an approximately 1-inch-wide teaspoon-sized divot into the flat side of each cookie (be careful not to pierce the tops or sides of the cookies). Bake the other sheet of cookies and cut out the divots. Cool the cookies completely.
• Spoon a heaping teaspoon of pastry cream into each cookie, then sandwich 2 similar-looking ones together to make a peach shape, cleaning off any pastry cream that squeezes out of the seams. At this point, the cookies may not stick together very well; prop them up next to each other to keep their shape.
• For decorating: Combine the nectar and almond extract in a small bowl and add enough food coloring to make it bright red, about 8 drops. Put the sugar in another bowl.
• Working one at a time, paint each peach cookie all over with the red nectar mixture using a medium paintbrush, then roll in the sugar to coat thoroughly. Make sure the cookies are still nicely sandwiched and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (the cookies should fit snugly in the baking pan so that they keep their shape). Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate 8 hours and up to overnight (this will blend the flavors and also set the pastry cream to keep the cookies together).
• Just before serving, garnish each cookie with a clove and mint sprig to look like little stems.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place balls 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies start to brown on the bottom. remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.
• When cookies are completely cool, carve a hole into the flat side of each cookie using a small knife. Save the crumbs. In a heatproof bowl, melt chocolate chips in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth. In a medium bowl, stir together the melted chocolate, apricot jam, ground pecans, rum and reserved crumbs until well blended. Fill the carved out centers of the cookies with the chocolate mixture and stick two cookies together with the filling sides in to form a peach shape.
• Divide the remaining cup of sugar into two bowls. One bowl should contain 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup in the other. Color the small bowl with the red coloring by working it in with your fingers. Color the other bowl with the yellow coloring and add a pinch of the red sugar to it to make a peachy color. Brush each cookie with water and roll them first in the yellow sugar, then dip a part of them into the red sugar to give them a blush. Insert plastic green stems into the top for a realistic effect.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°.
• Lightly grease cookie sheets.
• Mix together sugar, eggs and oil. Add flour and baking powder.
• Form 1" balls (cookies should be "flat" on the bottom where they rest on the cookie sheet) and bake about 10-15 minutes (until lightly browned on the bottom).
• While still warm, take a small pointed knife and scoop out a pocket on the flat side of each cookie.
• Fill with preserves & spread a small amount on the flat sides as you join 2 cookies together to form the peach.
• Color the brandy with a little food coloring & dip the peaches to give them a "blush".
• Then roll the peach in granulated sugar.
• You may garnish with artificial leaves for presentation.
• **Variation--if you have the time to make these lovely cookies on the actual day that they will be eaten, you may fill the pockets with pastry cream, and then seal the two halves together with melted dark chocolate!