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Yields about 30 2 inch sandwiched cookies
Wisk together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ t cinnamon (Saigon)
¼ t sea salt
Cream in mixer
2 sticks butter (European if possible) room temperature
2/3 cups white sugar (remove ¼ cup and set aside)
1T vanilla (best quality)
2 large eggs yolks
Zest of 1 orange or lemon
Add
1 cup toasted ground nuts (she uses hazelnuts- but you can use pecans or almonds)*See note
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture (she does it by hand)
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the almonds or pecans on a baking sheet for about 8-10 minutes (or until lightly browned and fragrant)- Toast the hazelnuts for 15 minutes or 20 minutes remove from oven and place the hot nuts in a dishtowel. Roll up the towel and let the steam for a few minutes then rub the nuts in the towel to remove the skins. Cool nuts on a wire rack. Once the nuts have cooled, place in a food processor and process with 1/4 cup of the sugar from the recipe until finely ground. Set aside
Divide the dough in half and shape into two rectangles about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap the two rectangles of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least one hour or overnight)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Remove one rectangle of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 to 3 inch cookie cutter (round or heart shaped.) cut out the dough. Re-roll any scraps and cut out the cookies Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared pan
For second sheet do the same. Then for the second sheet or for half the cookies use smaller cookie cutter (3/4 - 1 inch round or heart shaped to cut out the centers. (You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small window or cut out in the top cookie so you can see the jam that will be underneath.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
When the cookies are cooled, heat in your microwave- ½ cup seedless raspberry, apricot or black currant preserves. Cool
To Assemble Cookies: Place the cookies with the cutouts on a wire rack and lightly dust the tops with the confectioners' sugar.
On the bottom surface of the full cookie (top of cookie will face out) spread a little (about ½ teaspoon) of the jam. Place the cutout cookie on top and gently sandwich them together. If you want you can add a bit more jam to fill in the center hole of the cookie. (Use a ¼ teaspoon-measuring spoon. It best to assemble the cookies the day you are serving them. . You can store the unassembled cookies for several days in an airtight container.
