Heart Shaped Linzer Cookies

For the one who's always craving something sweet.

Love is in the air and so is the smell of these warm, buttery, heart-shaped almond linzer cookies!

Made with our Amoretti® Almond Extract, Amoretti® Premium Blanched Almond Flour, and filled with a sweet, raspberry jam, these cookies are a treat for your eyes and for your taste buds.

Nothing could be more festive on the valentine's day table than a tray of these, buttery, powdered sugar-dusted cookies.

The hint of lemon and almond in the dough complements a number of fillings--we opted for raspberry jam but you can use strawberry, blueberry, or even some lemon curd!

These cookies are incredibly easy to make and require your common household ingredients: butter, eggs, sugar, flour, lemon zest, etc.

You can prep the dough days (or weeks!) in advance by simplying letting it set in the fridge or freezer. For ultimate freshness, we recommend putting the dough in the freezer if you don't plan on baking off the cookies the next day.

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon Amoretti® Vanilla Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla W.S. (2X) Extract 
• 1/2 teaspoon Amoretti® Almond Extract
• 1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Amoretti® Premium Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Raspberry Jam, for filling
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy, scrap the the bowl as needed.
2. Add the yolk, Amoretti® Almond Extract and Amoretti® Vanilla Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla W.S. (2X) Extract and beat until combined.
3. Meanwhile, in a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, Amoretti® Premium Blanched Almond Flour, and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over-beat.
5. Divide the dough in half, and pat each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about one hour. Or, refrigerate overnight.

To assemble:

1. Remove one half of the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften until it feels soft enough to roll. It should still feel cold, but shouldn't be rock-hard.
2. On a floured surface, roll one disc of dough out about 1/4"-thick. Using a medium sized heart-shaper cookie cutter, cut out the cookies.
3. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with excess dough. If the dough becomes sticky and hard to work with, refrigerate it for about 20 minutes, until firm.
4. Place the cut cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°F.
5. While the first half of cookies is chilling, cut 15 rounds from the remaining dough. Once you've transferred these cookies to a baking sheet, use your smallest heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a cutout in the center of each cookie. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
6. Bake all of the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

To fill the Linzer cookies: 

1. Place the cookies with the holes in them on a cookie sheet and sift powdered sugar over the top. Turn the remaining cookies flat side up and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of seedless raspberry jam into the center, spreading it slightly. Top with the sugar-dusted cookies. Repeat until finished.
2. Devour.