Linzer Cookies - With Raspberry Jam

A recipe from German Cooking cookbook. I love the combination of raspberry jam and hazelnuts. Yum. Also, there is an option to drizzle the cookies with chocolate!

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Yields: 4-5 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 3 1⁄2 cups  sifted all-purpose flour
• 1⁄3 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄2  grated a lemon, rind of
• 1 1⁄4 cups  finely grated hazelnuts (or finely chopped or ground)
• 2  egg whites, slightly beaten
• 2  cups  raspberry jam (more or less, according to your taste)
• 1⁄4 cup powdered sugar, -or-
•  melted chocolate (optional)

Directions

1. With a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the 2 whole eggs, until incorporated.
3. Stir in flour, salt, lemon peel and hazelnuts. Combine the mixture into a smooth ball. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours of overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Lightly grease (or spray with Pam) several cookie sheets.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter to cut out as many rounds as you can.
7. On half of the dough rounds, cut out 1/2 inch circles, creating circular windows in the centers of the rounds.
8. With a spatula, arrange all the dough rounds on the cookie sheets ( you'll have some full rounds and some rounds with windows. There will be some extra dough from the window cut outs); brush tops with the egg whites, using a pastry brush.
9. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove rounds from the baking sheets and cool on wire racks for about 15 mintues.
10. Spread each full round with jam.
11. Top each with a windowed cookie.
12. Let cool completely and either sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate!