Yuletide Raspberry Almond Linzer Bars Recipes

RASPBERRY LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and lemon zest. In another bowl, mix flour, ground almonds and cinnamon; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Press 2 cups dough onto bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Spread with preserves to within 1/2 in. of edges. Crumble remaining dough over preserves., Bake until lightly browned, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. If desired, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Cut into bars.

RASPBERRY-ALMOND LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Spread almonds on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrantly toasty and nuts are golden on the inside (cut one open). Turn off oven. Cool almonds completely (you can speed this up by putting them in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes).
• Grind nuts with 1/2 cup of flour from cookie recipe in a food processor until finely ground, then transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour from recipe and whisk in cinnamon.
• Follow the rest of the Buttery Sugar Cookie dough recipe to make the Linzer dough. Divide dough in half, and wrap each half in wax paper, shaping each half into a flattened rectangle, then store each in a resealable plastic bag. Chill dough until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven again to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• While oven heats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) between two large sheets of wax paper to 1/8 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, quick-chill on a baking sheet in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator until firm.)
• Peel back top sheet of wax paper and cut out as many 3-inch cookies with cutter as possible. Then cut 1-inch openings in the center of half the cookies. Transfer cookies, as cut, to a lined baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart. (If dough becomes too soft to remove the cookies, quick-chill the dough in freezer or chill in refrigerator again on a baking sheet.)
• Gather, reroll, and chill scraps to form more cookies.
• Freeze or chill cut-out cookies on baking sheet until firm before baking.
• Bake cookies, one sheet at time, until edges are golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet 2 minutes. Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.
• Repeat with remaining piece of dough. (Cool sheets and use fresh parchment for subsequent batches.)
• Spread about 1 teaspoon jam on all the solid round cookies (without holes). Lightly dust rings (cookies with holes) with confectioners' sugar using a wire-mesh sieve.
• Set rings over jam to form sandwiches.

RASPBERRY ALMOND BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. , Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. With a moistened finger, make diagonal indentations every 2 in. in both directions, about 1/3 in. deep. , Fill indentations with jam. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

RASPBERRY LINZER TORTE BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray. Cut dough in half; roll out 1 half into a 9-by-13-inch rectangle; press into bottom of pan. Spread preserves over dough; sprinkle with almonds. Roll out remaining dough into a 4 1/2-by-6 1/2-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 1/2-inch strips with a fluted pastry cutter. Crisscross strips over raspberry-almond layer in a lattice pattern. Bake until strips are light brown and firm, 18 to 20 minutes; cool 5 minutes. Cut into 1-to 1 1/2-inch bars.

YULETIDE RASPBERRY ALMOND LINZER BARS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease metal 13x9 pan. Or line pan with foil and grease foil for easy removal and cutting. In mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar til creamy. Beat in egg and grated lemon zest til blended. Mix in flour, almonds and cinnamon til well blended.
• 2. Press 2 cups prepared dough onto bottom of pan. Spread preserves over crust. I dollop it and then spread with my offset knife. Press remaining dough, little amounts at a time, evenly over top. Bake 35-40 minutes til golden brown. Don't overbake, though, or it will be dry. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars or small squares.