Maria Pucks Linzer Cookies Food

LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position the rack in the middle of the oven.
• Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until golden, about 10 minutes. Turn oven off since you will not need it on again for at least 45 minutes. Empty nuts onto a folded towel, enclosing them between the folds, and rub them to remove their skins. Transfer the nuts to a strainer and carefully discard the skins. Allow nuts to cool to room temperature.
• Put the hazelnuts in a food processor fitted with the stainless-steel blade and pulse a few times. Add cake flour and process until the nuts are finely ground. Set aside.
• In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest on medium speed until light and creamy. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Over medium speed, add the egg and continue mixing for 1 more minute. Reduce the speed to low, add the hazelnut-flour mixture, and continue mixing until well blended into a smooth dough.
• Divide the dough into 2 portions, with 1 portion about 8 ounces or 1/3 of the dough. Transfer to a medium pastry bag fitted with a number 1 plain tip and set aside. With the remaining 2/3 of the dough (about 20 ounces), form into a 1-inch flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• With a marking pen, trace a 16 by 13-inch rectangle shape on parchment paper. Place paper, marked side down, onto a baking sheet. With the reserved dough in the pastry bag, pipe straight parallel lines, about 1-inch apart, inside the marked rectangle. Then pipe a second set of parallel lines at a 45 degree angle to the first set of lines to make a trellis shape. Refrigerate until needed (dough should be well chilled before using).
• With more cake flour, lightly dust a pastry board or work surface with flour. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a rectangular shape, about 15 by 12 inches by 1/4-inch thick. Transfer dough to a parchment lined baking sheet and trim any excess dough to make an even rectangle. Bake for 20 minutes, or until dough starts to color. Remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a rack. Leave oven on. Allow dough to cool for at least 10 minutes.
• Spread raspberry jam over the entire surface of the cooled dough. Carefully place the refrigerated trellis-shaped dough over the jam. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden in color. Allow to cool completely before cutting. Trim edges and then cut into 3 by 1-inch bars. Lightly dust bars with powdered sugar.

MARIA PUCK'S LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Toasting the hazelnuts: Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Empty into a folded kitchen towel, rub to remove the skins, and discard the skins. Leave to cool to room temperature, then empty into a food processor.
• Making the dough: Add the cake flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, butter, egg, and lemon zest. Pulse on and off several time; then, process until the nuts are ground and a soft dough has formed, stopping once or twice as necessary to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Chilling the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface. Separate into 2 equal pieces, dusting lightly with flour. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, flattening and shaping it into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Rolling out the dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, line large rimmed baking sheets with silicon sheets or parchment paper. On another silicon sheet or a lightly flour-dusted work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Roll out the second piece the same way.
• Cutting the cookies: With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch cutter, preferably star-shaped, cut out cookies from one piece of dough close to each other. Pull away dough around the shapes. With a thin spatula, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the second piece. Use a 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the fragile cookies completely on the baking sheets.
• Filling & finishing the cookies: Transfer the whole cookies to a work surface. Spread each with jam. Sift powdered sugar over the cookies with cutout centers. Gently press powdered sugar cookies on top of the jam on the whole cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight tins.

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix the flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and the allspice in a large bowl until combined. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the almonds and caster sugar. Drizzle in the egg and mix with a cutlery knife until the dough comes together in large clumps. Using your hands, knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a tight, compact disc. If the dough is still very soft, chill for 15 mins.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly dusted work surface to 5mm thickness. Stamp out 20 x 7cm rounds using a crinkle-edged cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Re-roll the off-cuts and cut out as many more biscuits as you can (you need to end up with an even number). Use a small round or other festive cutter to stamp a circle from the centre of half the biscuits. Chill all the biscuits in the freezer for 20 mins or the fridge for 30 mins until firm.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for about 10-12 mins, or until lightly golden and sandy to the touch. Leave to cool for 5 mins on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix the icing sugar with the rest of the cinnamon and dust this over the cut-out biscuits. Spoon the jam over the whole biscuits and smooth with the back of a spoon. Sandwich these with the icing-sugar-dusted biscuits. Will keep in an airtight container for six days. Best eaten within three days.

MARIA PUCK'S LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Toasting the hazelnuts: Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Empty into a folded kitchen towel, rub to remove the skins, and discard the skins. Leave to cool to room temperature, then empty into a food processor.
• Making the dough: Add the cake flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, butter, egg, and lemon zest. Pulse on and off several time; then, process until the nuts are ground and a soft dough has formed, stopping once or twice as necessary to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Chilling the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface. Separate into 2 equal pieces, dusting lightly with flour. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, flattening and shaping it into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Rolling out the dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, line large rimmed baking sheets with silicon sheets or parchment paper. On another silicon sheet or a lightly flour-dusted work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Roll out the second piece the same way.
• Cutting the cookies: With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch cutter, preferably star-shaped, cut out cookies from one piece of dough close to each other. Pull away dough around the shapes. With a thin spatula, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the second piece. Use a 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the fragile cookies completely on the baking sheets.
• Filling & finishing the cookies: Transfer the whole cookies to a work surface. Spread each with jam. Sift powdered sugar over the cookies with cutout centers. Gently press powdered sugar cookies on top of the jam on the whole cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight tins.

LINZER "HOLLYWOOD STARS"

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Empty them into a folded kitchen towel, enclosing them between the folds, and rub them to remove their skins. Transfer the nuts to a food processor fitted with the stainless-steel blade and discard the skins. Add the flours. Process until the nuts are finely ground.
• 2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar together at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and lemon zest and continue mixing for 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the nut-flour mixture. Mix just until the mixture comes together into a smooth dough. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and gently press it into a flat disc about 2 inches thick. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours, or preferably overnight.
• 3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into quarters. Place one piece between two sheets of lightly dusted parchment paper and roll out to an even 1/8-inch thickness. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes or longer.
• 4. Preheat the oven to 350° F. with the rack in the lower third. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the freezer, one sheet at a time. Carefully peel the top piece of parchment off the dough and, using a 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out stars of dough. With a 1/2-inch diameter circular cookie cutter, cut out holes from the centers of half of the stars (the holes will make nice mini-cookies).
• 5. Carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheets, placing them about 1/2 inch apart. If the dough is too soft to transfer easily, return it to the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes. If you need to bake the cookies in batches make sure you let the baking sheets cool before baking each batch. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 14 minutes. Slide the parchment onto cooling racks and wait 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely.
• 6. Return the cookies to your work surface. Place a scant teaspoon of jam on each cookie without the holes and spread in an even layer. Generously dust the cookies with the holes with powdered sugar either from a sugar sifter or from a fine-meshed sieve held over the cookies and tapped with your hand, and neatly place them on top of the jam so that the jam pokes out the center.

MARIA PUCK'S HOLIDAY SPICE GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Creaming butter and sugar: In a heavy-duty stand mixer at medium speed, beat the butter, both sugars, and the salt until blended and light, scraping down the bowl occasionally.
• Beating in spices, egg & molasses: Gradually beat in the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ground ginger, egg, molasses, and fresh ginger.
• Beating in flour & baking soda: Sift the flour and baking soda onto a large sheet of parchment paper. With the mixer at low speed, gradually pour the flour mixture into the creamed mixture and continue beating just until fully incorporated and smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl and the beater.
• Chilling the dough: Empty half the dough from the mixing bowl onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a flat rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap up securely. Repeat with the second half. Chill in the refrigerator until cold and firm, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Making the icing: Put the egg whites in a medium bowl, reserving the yolks for another use. Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk until blended. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar, 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time, until the icing is smooth and thick but still fluid. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Shaping the cookies: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. With a sharp knife, cut a rectangle of dough into 1-inch cubes. Roll each cube between your palms to form even balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet; or use a 1-inch-diameter scoop to form the balls.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until nicely puffed on top, well browned on the bottom, and firm to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes. Leave on the baking sheets to cool briefly before decorating.
• Decorating the cookies: Fill a disposable plastic pastry-decorating bag or a sealable plastic sandwich bag with the icing and snip off a corner. Gently squeeze the bag to pipe the icing over the warm cookies in any design you like. Leave the cookies on the sheets to cool completely before serving.