Raspberry Linzer Star Bars Food

LINZER STAR SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookie batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes.
• In another bowl, combine and mix the flour, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Mix and roll the cookies: Because this dough has a good amount of butter, it needs resting time and it needs to be rolled fairly quickly. Lay three large pieces of wax paper in a single layer on a flat surface. Sprinkle each one with a light coating of flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, blend the flour mixture in with the butter. When the ingredients are fully integrated, place one third of the batter on each of the pieces of wax paper. Coat with another light layer of flour and top with another piece of wax paper of the same length to make three dough "sandwiches." Press these wax-paper-and-dough-sandwiches down with your hands until the dough is fairly thin. This will save a lot of time on rolling later on. Place two of them in the refrigerator and work with them one at a time. Roll the first batch into as neat a shape as possible. What matters most is avoiding creases or cracks and getting it to about 1/8 inch in thickness. When the first is rolled, refrigerate it and repeat the same process for the other two. Let them chill at least 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make the cookie bottoms: Remove the first rolled sheet from the refrigerator and cut as many 1 1/2-inch stars (or rounds) as you can. Reserve the scraps in the refrigerator. Arrange the stars neatly in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other two sheets, reserving any scraps.
• Make the cookie tops: Cut a star, with the smaller cutter, out of the center of half of all the cookies. Roll the scraps in between two of the pieces of wax paper and cut additional stars, if desired.
• Bake and assemble the cookie sandwiches: Bake the cookies until they are lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the trays for a few minutes before gently transferring them to a flat surface. P
• Place the raspberry jam in a small pot and bring it to a light simmer. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon raspberry jam on each bottom and place a top star squarely on each. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

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 LINZER BARS

Steps:

• In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and add honey, zest, cinnamon and spices. Continue mixing for one more minute. Scarpe down the sides and add egg. Mix again until well blended.
• Sift the dry ingredients together. On low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture and continue to mix until a dough is formed.
• Remove the dough from the mixer, wrap in plastic film and refridgerate for about 2 hours.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inches cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with wax or parchment paper. Remove dough from the refridgerator and divide into two. Dredge the work surface with flour and with a rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick, forming a 12 inch circle. This will be for the bottom of the torte. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared cake pan with the circle.
• For the top of the torte, use the second half of dough, roll it to 1/2 inch thick to create a 9 by 12 inch rectangle. Refridgerate both the top and the bottom for about 20 minutes.
• Remove from refridgerator and fill bottom half with raspberry jam.
• Preheat the over to 350°F.
• Create a lattice with the rectangular piece of dough by cutting 12, 9 inch strips (Use a piece of cardbpard to build the lattice to make it easy to slide onto the bottom of the torte). Slide the lattice onto the jam filled bottom. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the top of the torte.
• Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. For a holiday accent, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

RASPBERRY LINZER STAR BARS

Steps:

• In a food processor finely grind almonds with confectioners' sugar and transfer to a large bowl. In food processor pulse butter with flour until mixture resembles fine crumbs and add to almond mixture with cornstarch and salt, stirring until combined well.
• In a small bowl beat together egg and lemon juice until blended and stir into flour mixture until combined well. Work mixture with hands until it forms a dough.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Pat 1 1/2 cups dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, 20 minutes. Pat remaining dough evenly into a 171/2- by 11-inch jelly-roll pan and spread evenly with jam.
• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out chilled dough 1/8 inch thick and with a 3/4- to 1 1/2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter (we used 3 different sizes) cut out as many stars as possible. Re-roll scraps and cut out more stars. Arrange stars randomly over jam and carefully brush stars with milk. Sprinkle stars with granulated sugar and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until stars are golden. Cool confection in pan on a rack and cut into 20 bars.

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.

LINZER TORTE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Mix together flour, sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl until crumbly.
• Press 2/3 of mixture into an ungreased 9x9-inch baking pan.
• Spread preserves over crust.
• Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over the top of preserves, patting mixture down lightly.
• Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Cool completely before cutting into bars.

LINZER STARS

Steps:

• Pulse flour, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until almonds are finely ground (no larger than poppy seeds).
• Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Beat in rum and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients. Beat dough just to blend; gently knead if necessary to form a ball.
• Divide dough in half. Place each half between sheets of parchment or waxed paper. Working with 1 piece at a time, flatten dough into a disk; roll dough, occasionally lifting paper on both sides for easier rolling, until 1/8" thick. Chill dough in paper until very firm, at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.
• Arrange a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Working with 1 dough disk at a time, remove top sheet of paper and, using 2" star cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer to baking sheets, placing 1/2" apart; chill. Repeat with remaining dough. Gather scraps; repeat rolling, chilling, and cutting until dough is used.
• Using 1/2" star cookie cutter, cut out a star from the center of half the cookies. Working in batches, bake cookies until light golden brown, dry, and just firm to the touch, 11-13 minutes. (Cookies will firm up as they cool.) Transfer to a wire rack; let cool. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
• Bring jam and 1 teaspoon water to a boil in a small saucepan; let cool slightly.
• Arrange whole cookies flat side up. Spoon 1 teaspoon cooled jam in the center of each, dabbing slightly to spread. Arrange cookies with cutouts flat side down on a wire rack; dust with powdered sugar. Set atop whole cookies, lining up star points and allowing jam to push up slightly through center. DO AHEAD: Linzer Stars can be assembled 8 hours ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F Grease a 9x9" square pan.
• Cream together butter, sugar, egg, lemon zest, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl.
• Mix in flour and walnuts.
• Reserve 1/4 of the dough, and pat the remaining into the prepared pan, going up about 1/2 inch on each side.
• Spread chosen jam flavor in a layer over top of the dough.
• Flour a flat surface.
• Use reserved dough to create a lattice top for the bars by dividing it into pencil-shaped strips and rolling it on the floured surface.
• Arrange in a lattice pattern across the top of the jam, criss crossing the strips and pressing the ends against the dough on the sides of the pan.
• Bake 45 mintures, or until lightly browned.
• Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

RASPBERRY LINZER BARS

Steps:

• Whisk first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; whisk to blend. Add butter; rub in with your fingers until coarse crumbs form. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture. Stir until dough forms. Divide in half. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment to a 12x10" rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet; chill for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove top layer of paper from 1 dough rectangle. Invert onto a baking sheet; remove remaining paper. Spread jam over in an even layer, leaving 1/2" border. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl to blend; brush lightly over plain border. Remove paper from second dough sheet and invert, placing on top of dough covered with jam. Remove paper. Press lightly from center of dough out toward edges to release any air pockets. Press edges to seal. Brush top with remaining beaten egg. Prick dough several times with a fork. Sprinkle with raw sugar.
• Bake until crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Trim edges. Cut into bars.