Linzer Torte Cookies Recipe 475

Steps:

• Make base: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round layer cake pans (preferably with removable bottoms if you plan to serve this in wedges, like a cake), two 8-inch square pans (what I used, then cut each into square bars, like cookies), one 9×13-inch rectangular pan (again, for bar cookies) or one 11- to 12-inch round cake pan (again ideally with a removable bottom). Line the bottom of each with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit, then butter then paper. In a food processor, process walnuts and 1/2 cup of the flour (reserve remaining 2 1/2 cups for next step) for 15 seconds, or until the nuts are finely ground but have not formed a paste. Place remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a large, wide-ish mixing bowl. With a pastry blender, work the butter into the dry mixture until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in the sugar and walnut-flour mixture. In a small dish, beat the whole egg, yolk, and lemon rind utnil combined, and stir into crumb mixture. Stir the mixture in as best as you can with a spoon, then work the rest in with your hands. Knead the dough a few times inside the bowl until a cohesive mass, one that holds together, forms. Divide dough into quarters if making two tortes, or halves if making one. Place one portion into the bottom of each pan, and press evenly and firmly over the bottoms and then about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches up the sides with your fingers. Don't worry about making it smooth or level on the sides; it gets filled in later. Bake shell(s) for 15 minutes, or until it barely begins to color at the edges. While the shell(s) bakes, roll remaining piece(s) of dough between two pieces of waxed paper, until 1/4- to 3/8-inch in thickness one inch bigger than your pan size. [I.e., for each 9-inch round torte, you'll want a 10-inch diameter circle; for each 8-inch square torte, a 9-inch square, etc.] Transfer to freezer until the dough is well-chilled, about 20 minutes. Remove shell(s) from oven and let cool slightly; reduce baking temperature to 350 degrees. Make filling: If you're using panko or another coarse dry breadcrumb, you can pulse it in a food processor until it is fine powder. I found I needed almost double the volume in panko (7 tablespoons) to yield 1/4 cup of a fine breadcrumb powder. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons finely ground breadcrumbs over each par-baked shell, or all 1/4 cup over your single large one. If jam is not already soft, stir it until it is, then spread 1 cup over each shell. Cut dough(s) into 1/2- to 3/4-inch wide strips, cutting through the bottom of the waxed paper at the same time. Lift each strip-and-waxed paper over the jam and reverse it onto the jam, then peel off waxed paper. Cut the ends of the dough by pressing them onto the sides of the pan. Arrange strips 1/2- to 3/4-inch apart, crisscrossing them on an angle to make a lattice top with diamond-shaped openings. [Note: I neither "wove" my lattice or ended up making "diamond-shaped" openings. Oops.] Use leftover pieces to fill in any gaps between lattice-strips and tall sides of shells. The two doughs will blend together in the oven. To finish: Mix egg yolks and water. Brush it all over lattice top and border. Sprinkle with almonds, if using. (I prefer to use 1/3 cup per smaller torte, instead of the 1/2 cup Heatter recommends. I only sprinkled them on one.) Bake torte(s) for 45 to 60 minutes (Heatter recommends 60, I find it perfect, but ovens and baking pans vary, check yours sooner if you're nervous), until crust and almonds on top are well-browned. Remove from oven and place on racks. If you've baked it in a cake pan and wish to serve it as a "cake," i.e. in wedges, Heatter recommends that you remove it from the pan while still warm by cutting around the torte carefully (the crust is very fragile) with a small, sharp knife and loosening the torte in the pan, before reversing it onto a cooling rack, and then back again onto another rack to finish cooling. If using a pan with a removable base, you should safely be able to remove it once it has fully cooled. Personally, I had no trouble letting my cool fully in the square pan but the first square did not come out cleanly. Once fully cool, Heatter recommends you let the tortes stand overnight (covered with foil) before serving for best flavor. You can decorate the tortes with powdered sugar before serving in wedges or squares.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and lemon peel. In another bowl, stir together the flour,nut flour, cinnamon and cloves. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. The dough will be stiff, so you may need to knead it by hand to get it to come together.
• 3. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into rounds using a cookie cutter. Place cookies onto a cookie sheet spaced 2 inches apart. Count your rounds and use a small cookie cutter to cut the center out of half of the cookies. This can be done while the other half of the cookies bakes. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm and lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool completely. Spread jam on the tops of the solid cookies and top with the cookies that have shapes cut out.

Steps:

• Place flour, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves on a clean work surface. Add butter and 2 egg yolks; knead quickly to form a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10-inch springform pan with remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
• Press 2/3 of the dough evenly in the pan so that the entire bottom is covered. Spread red currant jam on top. Divide remaining dough into several pieces and roll into 1/3-inch strands between your fingertips. Arrange the strips over the jam in a neat lattice pattern. Place the last strip along the sides of the pan to form a rim.
• Beat remaining 2 egg yolks and brush over the lattice and rim, taking care not to splash onto the jam.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Watch carefully towards the end of the baking time to make sure the torte does not turn too dark. Let cool and remove gently from the pan. Store for at least 3 days in a cool place before serving.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add eggs and lemon zest; stir until mixture forms a ball. Divide into fourths. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until chilled. , Remove two portions of dough from refrigerator; press each into an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Spread 2/3 cup jam over each., Between two sheets of lightly floured waxed paper, roll one portion of remaining dough into a 10x6-in. rectangle. Cut six 1-in.-wide strips; arrange in a lattice design over jam. Repeat with remaining dough (return dough to the refrigerator if needed). , Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and crust is browned. Cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Steps:

• Pulse together flour and almonds in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. Add cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and pulse to blend. (Alternatively, whisk together flour, ground almonds or almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.)
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.
• Add in dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed, just until incorporated.
• Divide dough in 2 equal pieces, and wrap each piece in cling film, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours, up to 5 days ahead.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper so it's about 1/8 inch thick. (Because of the almonds, the dough may crack in places while you're rolling it out. This is O.K., just patch it up with scraps.)
• Using a round cookie cutter 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Take half of these circles and cut out a 1-inch circle from the interior of the larger circles, creating a doughnut shape that will become the top of the cookie. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any scraps of dough, combine them and roll them out, chilling as necessary. Transfer dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart and bake until the edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• To assemble the linzer cookies, spread about a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the flat sides of the larger circles. Dust the tops of the cutout circles with powdered sugar and place on top of raspberry jam.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Combine nuts and 1/3 cup flour in processor; finely chop nuts. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Add remaining 2 cups flour and next 5 ingredients to bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Using electric mixer at low speed, blend ingredients until coarse meal forms (this will take several minutes). Add egg yolks and vanilla. Beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Press 1 1/2 cups (packed) dough over bottom and up sides of prepared pan; spread preserves in dough. Roll remaining dough on sheet of parchment paper to 13x10-inch rectangle. Freeze rectangle 5 minutes to firm. Cut twelve 1/2-inch-wide strips lengthwise from rectangle. Arrange 6 strips across torte, spacing evenly. Arrange 6 more strips across torte in opposite direction, forming lattice. Seal ends of strips to dough edge, trimming excess. Reserve all dough scraps to make cookies, if desired.
• Bake torte until crust is golden brown and preserves are bubbling thickly, about 40 minutes. Cool torte completely on rack. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with foil; store at room temperature.)
• Push bottom of pan up to free torte from pan. Sift powdered sugar over edge of torte, if desired, and serve.

Steps:

• Combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, water, ginger, and salt for filling in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until cranberries burst. Continue cooking, mashing fruit a bit with the back of a spoon, until thick as jam, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat to cool completely. Can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
• Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, and salt for cookies together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Mix butter and white sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just combined. Add the vanilla. Gradually add in flour mixture on low speed just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough ¼-inch thick and cut into 2-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round into a desired shape. Place all cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.
• While cookies chill, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until the edges just begin to brown or the cookies are crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven; let cookies cool for 1 minute on the pan, then remove to a wire rack and allow to cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes.
• When the cookies have cooled, place 1 teaspoon of filling on the flat side of each whole cookie, spreading it out to the edges with the back of the spoon. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar. Place the sugared tops on the filled bottoms.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will come off easily). Let cool.
• In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess; you don't want the mixture to become a paste.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nut mixture; set aside.
• In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and beat 1 minute to combine. With mixer on low speed, add ground nuts and flour mixture all at once.
• Divide dough in half. Set a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingers, press 1 dough half into tart pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roll remaining dough half between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour to a 12-inch round; place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using an offset spatula, spread jam evenly over chilled dough in tart pan; set aside. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 3/4-inch-wide strips from chilled round of dough. Arrange strips on top of jam in a lattice pattern. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until torte is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Torte can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, if using.