Nigella Linzer Biscuits Food

CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.
• Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

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.