These are a different take on a classic linzer cookie with the whole wheat pastry flour, spices and fig jam.
Most linzer cookies are made with raspberry jam of which I am not a fan of, so I used fig jam instead. The fig compliments the spices very nicely. Not only are they tasty but they are pretty too!
There are endless cookie cutter shapes you can use. Get that creativity going and have fun with it.
Recipe: 18 – 26 (depends on cookie cutter sizes)
- 3/4 Cup Sugar (I used beet sugar)
- 2 Sticks Salted Butter – softened
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest – finely grated
- 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Cups Raw Almonds – finely ground
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 3/4 Cup Fig Preserves/Spread
- Powdered Sugar – dusting
Instructions:
First, measure and grind the almonds to a fine crumble.
In a bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, spices and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor or electric mixer cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
Mix in the egg then mix in the ground almonds and flour mixture.
Divide the dough in half, form into round disks, wrap each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes, or up to two days).
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface roll out one of the dough balls until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
Using cookie cutters of your choice (round, square, star, etc.) cut out the cookies and carefully place on the baking sheet.
Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking sheet. *I bake the centers too, because they are cute.
Re-roll any scraps and cut out the remaining cookies. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until light brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
* If the unbaked cookies are soft, place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to chill the dough. This will help keep them from spreading and losing their shape when baked.
Assemble
Place the cut out cookies on a baking sheet and lightly dust the tops with powdered sugar using a small fine mesh sieve.
Spread about a teaspoon of jam in the centers of the full cookies.
Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together.
If you want you can use a small spoon or a piping bag to carefully fill the cut-out with a little more jam.
