Almond Raspberry Stars Recipes

ALMOND RASPBERRY STARS

Steps:

• Cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in extracts. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Shape into a ball; refrigerate, covered, for 15 minutes. , Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. With floured cookie cutters, cut dough into equal numbers of 2-1/2-in. and 1-1/2-in. stars. Combine almonds, sugar and cinnamon. Brush small stars with egg white; immediately sprinkle with almond mixture. Leave large stars plain. , Place all stars 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets, using separate sheets for the small and the large stars. Bake just until tips begin to brown, about 10 minutes for small stars and 12 minutes for large. Cool completely on wire racks., To assemble, spread enough jam over large stars to cover centers. Top with small stars; press lightly (jam should show around edge of small stars). Let jam set before storing cookies in an airtight container.

RASPBERRY LINZER STAR BARS

Steps:

• In a food processor finely grind almonds with confectioners' sugar and transfer to a large bowl. In food processor pulse butter with flour until mixture resembles fine crumbs and add to almond mixture with cornstarch and salt, stirring until combined well.
• In a small bowl beat together egg and lemon juice until blended and stir into flour mixture until combined well. Work mixture with hands until it forms a dough.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Pat 1 1/2 cups dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 20 minutes. Pat remaining dough evenly into a 171/2- by 11-inch jelly-roll pan and spread evenly with jam.
• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out chilled dough 1/8 inch thick and with a 3/4- to 1 1/2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter (we used 3 different sizes) cut out as many stars as possible. Re-roll scraps and cut out more stars. Arrange stars randomly over jam and carefully brush stars with milk. Sprinkle stars with granulated sugar and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until stars are golden. Cool confection in pan on a rack and cut into 20 bars.

RASPBERRY STAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Dough will be stiff. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into star shapes using a cookie cutter. Set cookies 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Place a teaspoon of jam onto each cookie and spread out towards the points of the stars. Roll out remaining half of the dough and cut into stars the same size. cut holes in the center of each star, then place them onto the jam stars.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden around the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and almond extract to form a glaze. Add water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too thick to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

STARSTRUCK RASPBERRY-ALMOND PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Place 1 pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate; flutes edges. On lightly floured surface, roll second pie crust to 13-inch round. With 1 1/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut out 45 stars; set aside.
• Place almonds in food processor. Cover; process until finely chopped. Add butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and the flour; process until blended. Add 1 egg and the almond extract; process until blended. Spread mixture evenly in pastry-lined plate.
• In large bowl, mix 1 cup granulated sugar, the cornstarch and orange peel. Add raspberries; toss gently. Spoon berry mixture evenly over almond layer. In small bowl, beat 1 egg and the whipping cream. Arrange stars in circular pattern on top of filling (with tips touching), covering entire surface. Brush rim and stars with egg mixture; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Place cookie sheet on rack below pie in case of spillover. Bake 10 minutes. Cover crust edge with pie shield ring or strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 40 to 45 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbly. (If crust becomes too brown, cover entire crust with foil.) Cool on cooling rack at least 3 hours before serving.