All my life I have seen pictures of these cookies, seen them on cookie trays, etc., but never tasted one. They look pretty. I just always thought they might be a bit messy to eat, so haven't ever ventured forth. I was excited to see this recipe chosen so that I could make them myself. The dough is very easy and quick. I love to put things in the food processor to whirl them about until they become dust, so that was my favorite part: grinding up all the almonds. It all smells great while you are combining all the regular cookie-type ingredients: butter, flour, egg, sugar, etc. and then you get to add cinnamon and ground cloves and the finely ground almonds, and it smells even better. Okay, I admit, I tasted, it too...I had just a tad dribbled on my fingers and licked it off...so good! The chilled dough rolled out nicely, and I even had the cookie cutter Dorie specified, so that was lucky, no last minute dashes to sur la you-know-where to pick one up. I used strawberry preserves for the filling as Mark is not a big fan of the raspberry ones that Dorie suggested. The strawberry was excellent with the cinnamon and clove flavors in the cookies. I baked, spread the jam on the cookie, dusted the top with powdered sugar, sandwiched them together, and voila...yum! The cookie flavorings with the jam is delicious. Are they messy to eat? A bit...two layers with jam between...well, not exactly white glove dainties, but I wasn't wearing white gloves, so I enjoyed mine immensely. And the guys? They haven't had any yet...photo is of Matt grabbing one cookie without the jam or powdered sugar on his way out the door for school this morning, pronouncing them "absolutely great with nothing on or in them!" I am sneaking these into the freezer for Christmas cookie trays, so they have been squirreled away in boxes marked "Chicken parts" in the freezer. (It's my way of hiding things in the freezer...the guys don't want to take any chances in looking inside boxes marked "Chicken parts," so I think they might be safe. Might.) Next week's recipe was chosen by my friend Ulrike of This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, is Linzer Sables, can be found on page 134-136, and was chosen by Noskos of Living the Life. If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Noskos' site above and he will have it posted today. Noskos is from the Netherlands, but his TWD blog is published in English. (His barbecue blog is published in Dutch if you want to check that out also).
Küchenlatein, is Grandma's All-Occasion Sugar Cookies, and can be found on pages 146-147.
Click here and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest. It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen. See you there!