Dutch Letters

Theresa P's Note:

These are a cross between a pastry and a cookie. They never last longer than a day around here. They are flaky, buttery almond delights! They are not hard to make, just a little time consuming--BUT SO WORTH IT! I hope you try them and see for yourself how really wonderful they are. Prep time includes chilling the dough.

• Total Time: 24 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 24 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 14

Dough

• 1 lb butter
• 4 cups Wondra Flour (is made for thickening gravies and sauces, usually found in same aisle as flour)
• 1 cup water
• 2 egg whites (slightly beaten)

Filling

• 1 lb almond paste
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Dough: Mix butter and flour.
2. Stir in water and mix to form dough.
3. Chill overnight.
4. Filling: Beat almond paste until smooth. Add eggs, sugar and vanilla; mix well.
5. Chill overnight.
6. Assembly: Divide dough and filling into 14 equal parts.
7. Roll 1 piece of dough into a 14x4&1/2-inch strip, then take 1 part of almond filling and spread it down the center of dough strip.
8. Lap one side of dough over the filling, then the other side and pinch seam shut from end to end.
9. Shape into an "S" shape and place on greased cookie sheet with seam on bottom.
10. Brush tops with beaten egg whites and sprinkle with sugar; prick with fork every 2-inches or so to allow steam to escape.
11. Repeat with rest of dough and filling.
12. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
13. *These can be made and frozen before or after baking.

Reviews

[AngieME]

I loved the taste and texture of these surprisingly flaky Dutch Letters. If it took less work and time, I would give it 5 stars...but it's time consuming and I'm not sure when I'll dedicate the time to make these again. Here are some things I did: 1) I used one container of Wondra flour (about 3 c) and then the rest all-purpose flour. Great results still. 2) I rolled them out on lightly floured waxed paper. It made life much easier to fold over and transfer to cookie sheet. 3) Be heavy with the sprinkled sugar. 4) I baked 1/3 of the letters the day after I made the dough/filling and ran out of time, so finished them off a few days later with great results. The dough/filling kept in the fridge nicely. 5) I froze some after baking -- they tasted super defrosted. 6) Some I made into 'S' shapes, but most were 'I' shapes, and I cut those into about 4" pieces after they baked. You can cut them small before baking, but filling will ooze out a little (though it's still good). 7) Some I rolled like a jelly roll rather than folding over, and both techniques yielded great results. 8) With my convection oven, it took 18 minutes to bake these. My mom made them too with a conventional oven, and it took her about 24 minutes. I hope this helps. If anyone is considering making these delicious things, they are easy to make -- just time consuming when it's time to roll out and bake them.