Linzer Cookies

For this recipe, I prefer to measure my ingredients in grams, as this dough is very finicky.

Ingredients:

• 185g (1.5 cups) AP flour + more for dusting

• 85g (2/3 cups) Powdered sugar

• 50g (5 1/4 tablespoons) cornstarch

• 1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt

• 3g Madagascar or Tahitian vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped with a spoon or paring knife

• 130g (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter cut in cubes at room temperature.

• 50g (1 large) egg

Directions:

1. Combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla seeds in a large bowl. Whisk to prevent any lumps. add the cubed butter and mix with your hands until the butter is broken down to the size of peas. Add the egg and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough becomes smooth and the egg is fully incorporated. Be careful not to overmix, or the dough will become too tough.

2. Turn the dough onto a greased sheet of plastic wrap and gently shape it into a ball. Wrap the dough completely in the plastic and flatten it into a disk so it cools faster. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or up to overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF

4. Flour your work surface and rolling pin lightly and unwrap the dough. roll it until it is about 1/4 inch (6mm) thick. Make sure to work quickly, otherwise, the dough will become tacky and sticky. If this happens, return to the fridge for 20 minutes. Similarly, you can add more flour to the warm dough to allow it to become smooth again.

5. Using a round cookie cutter, about 2.5” wide, make as many cookies as you can. Using a smaller cutter, cut the center of half the cookies. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and transfer the cookies to the pan. Put the pan in the fridge for 20 minutes.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a cooling rack.

7. Separate the ringed cookies from the whole cookies. Dust the ringed cookies heavily with powdered sugar. Spread a thin layer of raspberry conserves on the whole cookie. Find an appropriately sized ring cookie that matches the whole cookie and lightly press down.