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Directions:
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Blanched slivered almonds will produce more uniformly colored cookies, while cookies made with sliced unblanched almonds will be flecked with brown. For a stronger almond flavor, toast the almonds lightly, then let cool before processing them with the sugar. Note that you'll need confectioner's sugar and raspberry jam for this recipe.
Place in a food processor and pulse until finely ground:
2/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Cream together until light and fluffy:
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
Almond sugar mixture from above
Beat in:
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon almond extract
Whisk together then add:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix just until all ingredients are well blended. Chill dough for 3-4 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to 1/4" thickness. (if the dough is chilled overnight, it may need to soften slightly before rolling.) Using the large scalloped cutter, cut shapes from the dough and place on a prepared baking sheeet. Using the small scalloped cutter, cut a hole from the middle of half of the cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough, incorporating the scraps until all the dough is used. You should have 10 solid cookies and 10 cut out cookies.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly colored. Let cookies coll slightly on cookie sheets and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Sift confectioner's sugar on the the cut-out cookies. Spread a heaping spoonful of raspberry jam on to the underside of the solid cookies. Carefully place a cut-out cookie on top of each jam-covered cookie.
My favorite cookie cutter for Linzer cookies is the Linzer Cookie Cutters, but you can use any shape if you're just making the almond cookies without the jam filling.
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