Xmas cookie #8

Best Linzer Cookies
Yields 96 cookies
Recipe from Good Housekeeping

Ingredients:

2 bag(s) (8 ounces each) pecans

1 cup(s) cornstarch

3 cup(s) (6 sticks) butter, softened (no substitutions)

2 2/3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar

4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

2 large eggs

5 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup(s) seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse pecans and cornstarch until pecans are finely ground.

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and 2 cups confectioners' sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl with rubber spatula. At medium speed, beat in vanilla, salt, and eggs. On low speed, gradually beat in flour and pecan mixture just until blended, scraping bowl.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces; flatten each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, 4 to 5 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator; let stand 5 minutes for easier rolling. On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/2 inch thick. With floured 2 1/4-inch fluted square cookie cutter, cut dough into as many cookies as possible. With floured 1 3/4-inch star cutter, cut out centers from half of cookies. With spatula, place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate trimmings.

Bake cookies until edges are golden, 17 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar through sieve over cooled cookies with cut-out centers.

In small bowl, stir jam until smooth. Spread top of each whole cookie with scant teaspoon jam; place cut-out cookies on top. Store in tightly sealed container, with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature up to 1 week or in freezer up to 2 months. (If cookies are stored in freezer, re-sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving.)

I received a large batch recipe book for cookie exchanges from my friend Lisa last year for Christmas. These cookies have always looked so adorable and I wanted to give them a try. They were quite the process. First to make the dough, then to refrigerate the dough then to roll the dough, then to cookie cut the dough, then the cook the cookies, then to cool the cookies, then to fill the cookies, then to powdered sugar sprinkle the cookies then to sandwich the cookies. ahhhhh....and deep breath. They took forever but they were definitely worth the effort. They were so yummy. However, I did burn a pan of these the first time around. I tried to speed up the process by using two smaller pans instead of my one big pan. They were different pans that I just wasn't used to using, which was a bad idea. So, for the next batches, I used the normal pan and they turned out great! I had a lot of seedless raspberry jam left over so I have been eating it on toast every morning for a month now and it never gets old! I love these! But they are definitely a once a year cookie due to all the work they entail.