Seasonal Crafting - LINZER COOKIES!

I don't think there is a better time for crafts than the later, colder half of fall. The weather tends to drive us indoors, and it's natural to want to do work to prepare for the winter months to come. For older kid's I recommend sausage making and brewing, but here are some good crafts for littler kids, we did these over the Thanksgiving weekend. 

LINZER COOKIES - these are old-fashioned sandwich style cookies. They are really festive and you can get the cutters with different holiday cut-out shapes - trees, ornaments, candy canes, stars,  etc. I like to make a few batches, and vary the filling: blackberry, raspberry, cherry, apricot, cloudberry, whatever kind of jam you like or have on hand. We made a special trip to a favorite German deli and let baby choose some jams. A great use for home-made preserves too! 

1  1/4 C flour (AP = All Purpose)

2 tsp. cinnamon 

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 C powdered sugar (+ some for decorating

5 tsp. orange peel, grated

2 tsp. lemon peel, grated (substitute or add lime too if you like) 

3 large egg yolks

1 1/4 C Hazelnut meal

Blackberry Jam 

First put out the butter to warm, and make the hazelnut meal. 

Put shelled hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them at about 325 F for 5 minutes, watch them! When they start to smell toasty remove a few and rub them gently in a kitchen towel, you want the papery outer husks to come off. If they do not, heat again, 5 minutes or so at a time until the rub off easily. Remove the nuts and discard the husks. They will have a much nicer texture & flavor this way. Chop them finely, with a food processor or nut chopper if you have one, or a large knife if you don't. (This is labor intensive, but possible; I do it this way.) Do not over-grind; you don't want a creamy consistency, but more like corn-meal. Over-chopping or a blunt blade will bring out the oil. 

Sift and whisk the 1st 5 ingredients together. 

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, add the citrus zest. 

Beat in Yolks and dry ingredients, and nut meal. 

When the dough is smooth, make a flattened patty out of it, wrap tightly, and chill for a minimum of 1 hour, overnight is fine. 

Pre-heat oven to 325 F, roll out dough 1/8" thick, cut cookies. Half of them will be plain discs, the other half discs with a shaped hole in the center. Bake for up to 22 minutes, watch them, they burn easily. They should be light golden brown. Check after 10 or 15 minutes and turn the sheet if the cookies look to be browning unevenly. 

Cool cookies on a wire rack. Spread bottoms with jam, top with cut-out tops, sprinkle with powdered sugar. They are lovely, and make a nice gift in a cookie tin. Many thrift stores have loads of nice cookie tins for under a dollar. Put paper between the layers of cookies.