Linzer Cookies

Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, cinnamon, and salt. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Beat butter, sugar, and yolk mixture: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Make the dough: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir on low speed just until the dough comes together, and no streaks of dry flour remain. Try not to overmix or the dough will be difficult to work with and the baked cookies will shrink. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Divide and chill the dough: Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk about an inch thick so it chills quickly. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Preheat the oven and prepare baking sheets and parchment: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside until ready to use. If you don’t have 4 baking sheets, you can bake them in extra batches, making sure to let the pans cool completely in between batches. Prepare two additional pieces of parchment about 16 inches long to roll out cookies with and set aside until ready to use. Roll out the dough: Remove one of the disks of dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up until it's soft enough to roll but still cold, about 5 minutes. Roll out the dough between the 2 pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8-inch thick, working from the center outward and rotating the dough as you go. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Cut out the cookies: Carefully, peel off the top layer of parchment. Cut out the cookies using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart. If the dough is sticking to the bottom layer of parchment, use an offset spatula or other thin spatula to gently release the cut-out cookies. The dough scraps can be gathered into a smooth ball, then flattened into a disk to reroll two more times. You should have about 18 to 24 cookies. If at any point the dough becomes too sticky and difficult to work with, chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Place the cut-out cookies in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Cut out the remaining cookies: While the first round of cookies chills and the oven preheats, roll and cut out the second disk of dough. Again, you should have about 18 to 24 cookies, making sure there's the same number of tops and bottoms. Use a 1-inch round or star-shaped cookie cutter, or the large end of a piping tip, to cut out the center of each cookie. You should have 18 to 24 round cookies and 18 to 24 cookies with a cut out in the middle. Place the cut-out cookies in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Bake the cookies: Bake the cookies in batches, two trays at a time, rotating the sheets between oven racks halfway through baking, until the edges turn golden brown and the middle of the cookies look matte and have set, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies: Remove the pans from the oven and place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the racks to cool completely before sandwiching. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Assemble and serve: Turn over the base cookies and spread with 1 teaspoon of jam, leaving a small border around the edges. Top with the cookies with holes cut out, pressing down lightly. Dust the tops with powdered sugar. Serve. Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon Simply Recipes / Cambrea Gordon