Tuesdays with Dorie—Linzer Sablés

Unlike the pumpkin-pecan pie from last week that was next to impossible to make look pretty, Linzer Sablé cookies are off-the-baking-rack pretty. Marye from Baking Delights listed Dorie's Linzer Sablés as one of the 50 best recipes for Christmas on the internet.

Linzer Sablés are the cookie version of the Linzertorte. Made with ground nuts (in my case ground almonds) and a filling of preserves. I used some homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam from my pantry to fill the middle. Sablés are a French butter cookie. Sablés means "sand" in French and refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie.

Tips for Cutout Cookies
Cutout cookies are definitely more fussy and time-consuming, but the best tip for making cutout cookies comes from Dorie: use a freezer bag to roll the dough in. This tip is in the directions of her brown sugar-pecan shortbread cookies on page 127. I used to use a Silpat, but I've made some cuts in the Silpat in the process. For this recipe, I used two freezer bags. After I cut the bag open, I just rolled the remaining dough between the two sides of the bag.

I rolled the cookies pretty thin, so they didn't need to be in the oven as long (9-10 minutes for mine). I like them crunchy, but if you prefer them softer, you could roll them thicker or bake them for less time.

Another important tip is to refrigerate the dough before rolling, and optionally after cutting out so that they don't spread too much when baking.

Recipe

Ingredients:
1½ cups finely ground almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts (I used almonds)
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons freshly grated cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground cloves
1 large egg
2 teaspoons water
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup of sugar
½ cup jam

You can find the recipe for Linzer Sablés in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Noskos of Living the Life who chose the recipe for this week and will post the recipe.

Tasting Notes
I loved these cookies and one of my daughters gave them a thumbs up too. The hint of cinnamon and cloves make them extra tasty. This recipe is definitely being added to my yearly Christmas cookie list.

Recipe for Next Week (December 9)
Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies on pages 146-147 chosen by Ulrike of Küchenlatein.

Other Christmas cookie ideas:
• Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
• Lenox Almond Biscotti
• Rugelach