Based on a Winter 2003 Fine Cooking recipe by Elaine Khosrova
Makes about 32 2 ½ inch sandwich cookies;
Active time: about 1 hour; start to finish: about 3 hours
Ruth’s notes: I use a specialty cookie cutter with interchangeable inserts I bought through Arthur’s Flour.
Ingredients:
2 ½ ounces (½ cup) sliced almonds
2 ½ ounces (½ cup) coarsely chopped hazelnuts
9 ½ ounces (2 cups plus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
7 ounces (14 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cold water
½ cup raspberry preserves
confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)
Preparation:
Several hours before baking: In a food processor, process the almonds and the hazelnuts with ½ cup of the flour until fine textured but not powdered. (To avoid over-processing, stop the machine occasionally and feel the nuts; they may look like they’re still chunky but they may actually be clumping together.) Add the remaining flour, granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into ½ inch cubes and add to the flour mixture; pulse until the mixture looks like course meal. Don’t over-process. Transfer to a large bowl. Whisk together the egg and water; sprinkle over the flour mixture and toss gently to combine. The dough should hold together when pinched. (If it seems dry, sprinkle on a bit more water.) Gather the dough into two balls and knead briefly just to blend. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, 2 to 3 hours.
To bake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cover your cookies sheets with parchment. Generously flour a work surface. Roll one ball of the dough 3/16ths inch thick. Keep the rest chilled and if the working dough gets sticky, re-chill until it is workable. Cut out as many 2 ½ inch rounds as possible, re-rolling the scraps. Arrange on the cookie sheets about ¾ inch apart. Cut 1¼ inch holes in the center of half the rounds. Re-roll the center scraps to make more cookies. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets.
To assemble: Spread a heaping ½ teaspoon of preserves on the undersides of the whole cookie rounds. Top with the rounds with the center cut-outs, bottom side against the preserves. Before serving, dust cookies with confectioners’ sugar.
Ruth's Christmas Cookies 