Updated classic

I love these delicious Linzer cookies. They’re easier than the classic Linzertorte but still have the delicately spiced crunch with tart raspberry filling. The dough can be a little fussy, but I recently made this recipe from Dede Wilson’s “A Baker’s Field Guide to Christmas Cookies” and they turned out beautifully. I rolled them out on a pastry cloth to avoid using too much flour.

Linzer Cookies

Adapted from “A Baker’s Guide to Christmas Cookies,” by Dede Wilson

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup skinned whole hazelnuts or blanched whole almonds (5 ounces)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup seedless red or black currant jam or raspberry jam

Confectioner’s sugar

Pulse the flour, nuts, granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt together in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. With machine on, add butter a few pieces at a time through feed tube and process until evenly combined.

Pulse in almond extract and lemon zest until mixture begins to form large, moist clumps. Scrape dough onto large piece of plastic wrap, form two very flat discs, cover completely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out at least two hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll one disc out to ¼ -inch thickness on floured surface; you may need to flour the pin too. Using a Linzer cookie cutter, cut out large cookies in desired shapes and place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Pick desired shape for center cutter and cut out the same number of cookies with a cut-out window in the center. (My cutter has stars, hearts, flowers, triangles and diamonds.) Or, use a small cookie cutter to cut a small window in the center of half the cookies.

Bake until just light golden brown around the edges, about 10 minutes for small cookies and 20 minutes for larger ones. Cool on sheets for a couple of minutes, then carefully transfer to racks to cool completely.

On the day of serving, place jam in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Using a small offset spatula, spread a thin layer of jam on the flat bottoms of the large cookies; you will have some jam leftover.

Place cutout cookies on a cookie sheet or parchment paper and use a fine mesh strainer to sieve confectioners’ sugar over them. Carefully sandwich the cookie tops with the bottoms confectioners’ sugar side up.

If you wish, place the leftover jam in parchment cone or pastry bag and carefully pipe into windows to fill up the cutout space.

Yield: 24 large cookies

Approximate nutrition per serving: 114 calories, 6 grams fat (3.8 grams saturated, 48 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 14 grams carbohydrate, 17 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 24 milligrams sodium.